Project Seven: Soul Reconnaissance
by burnt.rose84
Summary: Cat finally gets to be the one to control her own life. But with Decepticons and past government agents with a grudge after her, Cat, the kids, and the Autobots face daunting challenges ahead of them. The question is who will survive? OCxOC
1. Moving and New Toys

Hey all! As I promised, here is the beginning of the sequel to my original Transformers fic, "Project Seven". Now, I don't want you guys to be expecting updates every week as I did with the original. They're going to be somewhat sporadic. And this chapter might be a little slow for your tastes, but I need to establish new life for Cat and the Autobots. Things will progress, I promise. Just be patient my friends.

For those of you who have never read Project Seven, you may be somewhat confused as to some characters and their pasts, as well as their abilities, namely Cat. You can always check out my profile and find the original story to catch up on where all of this is. Or perhaps you would rather just start with Soul Recon. It's your choice, but I'm warning you now, you will most likely be lost in the storyline, and I would hate to believe that someone chose not to read my story because they were confused, or not up to date on the subject.

I'm all excited about this new release! I can't wait for your reviews and to watch the hit counter tick away! Don't be shy to say what you think, I want to know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. There will be both subtle and outright hints of FullMetal Alchemist, and just so you all know, I do not claim ownership to FullMetal either. I DO, however, own soul custody of the character "Cat", who is also the character that shapes my story.

Please Enjoy!

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_**There were many years after the battle between Autobots and Decepticons. In those years, the humans and the Autobots had many different adventures, and met many new characters. These are the tales of those events.**_

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September 1st, 2007

Moving and New Toys

It had been five months since the battle at Mission city, and Sam and Mikaela had gotten up early in the morning to meet the Autobots at the Lookout one last time before the big move. Both the government and the transformers decided that the best way to keep the new residence comfortable was to clean out the Hoover Dam's old laboratories and make room for them. Bumblebee had decided to stay with Sam, and Mikaela, and Catherine had decided to move to the Dam with the others.

"So are you guys all ready?" Sam asked.

"There really is nothing to prepare. The government is taking care of all of our needs at the new facility. All we really have to do is go there," Optimus replied with a shrug.

"It's going to be weird, not having any of you around anymore," Mikaela said sadly.

"Yes, I imagine that it's going to take some time for us to get used to everything ourselves, " Ratchet replied.

"Where's Cat?" Jazz asked, wondering why she was not with the other two humans.

"We couldn't find her before we left. We figured she was with one of you guys," Sam replied.

"No, we haven't seen her all week," Ironhide added.

"She's probably out by herself again…" Mikaela commented crossing her arms and frowning.

"She's still running off on her own?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah, she just never got used to a normal bed to sleep in, or sitting around the house like a normal college-aged girl. And whenever she _was_ around the house she was always pacing, or sighing, or trying to fix things. Drove my parents crazy!" Sam replied.

"I _told_ her to stop doing that! She _still_ doesn't have full capabilities of her body!" Ratchet scowled.

"I don't think that's going to stop her, Ratchet. She's been insisting on doing things on her own ever since she's settled in," Mikaela replied as she looked at her watch," Well she needs to get here soon, you guys are supposed to be on the road if you're going to make it in time to meet Secretary Keller at the Dam."

"Hi guys!" Cat said as she walked up to the lookout, everyone turning to face her.

Since turning around from being a starved science project, to gaining new human legs and having to learn how to walk, the once skin and bones girl had bulked up and was already beginning to get around on her own, for the most part.

"Where've _you_ been?" Sam asked.

"Oh, just out and about. Getting things ready for today," she replied with a smug grin.

"_Things_? Since when do you have things?" Mikaela pondered aloud, wondering what it was besides the clothes that they had packed the night before that Cat had in her possession.

"Oh, nothing really. Just some extra things… Are we all ready?" Cat changed the subject.

"Cat, are you sure you want to leave us?" Mikaela asked, now even more upset.

Cat smiled and said, "Yeah, I think that it's for the best for right now. I can learn a lot from these guys and I think it'd be best if I went back there… I think I need to go there as the new me…"

Sam and Mikaela looked to each other with gloomy looks, and then back to Cat.

"Well don't forget that you're always welcome here if you want to come visit," Sam reminded.

"Or if you just want to stay for a really long time!" Mikaela reached forward and hugged Cat, Sam doing the same after laughing.

"You guys are coming to visit a lot I assume, though, right?" Cat asked.

Even though Cat had never managed to get along with other humans, she felt very fortunate to have Sam and Mikaela, as well as Sam's parents, who treated her like one of their own. She considered them the only humans that she could trust with her own life. Other than those four, she only felt safe around the Autobots. She figured that she only felt that way because of the fusion with her former friend, Five, but she couldn't help but feel the way that she did.

"Well, school's starting for us again, so not as often as we'd like. But you can bet we'll be there on all the major holidays and breaks," Sam replied, putting an arm around Mikaela for comfort. They both wanted their friends to stay.

"And we're going to call practically every day, so don't stray too far away from the phone, "Mikaela hugged Sam back with an arm around him as well.

Cat chuckled and looked at her watch.

"Well, we better get going… It's not going to be too long before Keller is going to start wondering where we're at," she said softly.

"Yes, we should go now," Optimus agreed as he and the four transformers who were leaving turned into their alternate car modes.

Ironhide pulled up to Cat and opened his driver's side door to let her in. Before she could climb in she felt a giant hand wrap around her and launch her off of the ground. Before she knew it she was face to face with Bumblebee, who blinked his optics at her sadly.

"Forgetting someone?"

Cat smiled and said, "Of course I wasn't going to forget you! How could I do such a thing?"

Cat patted the yellow Autobot's hand regarding him with a warm smile. His blue optics brightened and he set her back down on the ground. She climbed in Ironhide and waved as the door shut. Sam and Mikaela waved back as the blue semi truck lead the group out of the park, and onto the main highways.

After traveling for a few minutes, Ratchet drove up next to Ironhide and only said, "Ironhide," in a warning tone.

Cat looked over to the Hummer form of the medic with a questioning look, as she knew the truck would send the same look had he not been transformed into his car mode.

"What?!" he asked annoyed, before his car form shuddered with realization.

Cat was still looking over at Ratchet with a strange look when the driver's side seatbelt flew around her and buckled her in safely.

"What's _this_ about?" Cat asked.

Ironhide sighed and replied, "We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago, and it was agreed that we shouldn't travel with ya humans unless you're buckled in."

"Why?" Cat asked.

Jazz drove up to the other side of Ironhide and replied, "Jes' in case we're in an accident, or attacked. That way if any o' that happens, you guys don't get tossed around or thrown through the windows."

Cat sighed and replied, "You shouldn't worry about that with me, remember? I'm not exactly completely human!"

"But you're not exactly completely armored either. It's just a precaution, Catherine," Ratchet replied.

The girl put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes with a smile, "Fine…"

Optimus radioed in and said, "I'm glad you're agreeing to this, Catherine. We were afraid that you would put up an argument about being restrained."

"Yeah, well. I'm in a pretty good mood today, so I'll let it slide," she replied opening her eyes and winking at the radio.

"I thought you'd be more upset about leaving Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee," Ratchet said with a strange inflection.

"Well I am upset about that, but in a way, I'm kind of excited to be going back to the Dam," Cat replied, closing her eyes again.

The four transformers were caught completely off guard by that comment.

"But I… I thought you disliked being there? You made a big fuss about not wanting to go back there to get the Allspark!" Ratchet caught back up with Ironhide again.

"It's different now… I didn't want to go back that time because I was afraid of being recaptured. And now I'm a different person. I've come to terms with my past and have been able to let go most of the pain that was caused from living there," Cat replied.

"Just most of it?" Optimus asked.

Cat reopened her eyes and softened them as she looked at the new sunrise, "I can forgive myself for most of the pain that was caused to me while living there… But there's some pain that I can't ever forget. There are some wounds that never close…"

"What wounds?!" Ratchet asked, now actually scanning the girl from head to toe.

Cat laughed and replied, "The metaphorical ones."

After driving for several hours from Tranquility, the five friends managed to arrive to the Dam on time. They drove off to the side of one of the mountainous regions located on the Arizona side of the Dam and rounded on the secret entrance, only entering after making sure that no human was watching them. As soon as they were all in, and the main door had closed, Cat jumped out of Ironhide's cabin and the mechanical giants transformed into their humanoid forms. As soon as this was done, Secretary Keller appeared from inside one of the offices nearby.

"I'm so glad that you all could make it in such good time!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

"I'm afraid that I've never gotten the proper chance to thank you for such a generous amount of living space," Optimus replied, looking around the area.

"Ah," Keller waved a hand at the Autobot leader, "this was no trouble at all. I feel better knowing that we're doing what we can to make your stay more efficient and comfortable for you. It must have been a little tight trying to stay quiet in an urban neighborhood."

"Yes, it was getting to be a little difficult to stay in our alternate modes all day and night, "Ratchet agreed.

Secretary Keller glanced over at Cat, who was looking around the area, remembering things from when she had grown up there.

"Miss Andrews, I'm glad that you decided to stay here as well," he said cheerfully.

Cat looked over to the man and did not change her expressionless face.

"Have any of my things arrived yet?" she asked calmly.

"I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything from shipping yet, so I would assume not," he replied.

"Let me know when they do…" Cat replied back to the man as she walked out of the garage area.

"Would you like someone to accompany you to your new living quarters?" Keller asked.

"I'm fine… thanks…" she replied as she left.

As the girl left out of sight, Optimus turned to the Secretary and said, "I am sorry for her attitude, Secretary. She has not managed to put her trust into other human beings, ever since her fusion with Five."

Keller laughed and said, "It's okay, really. I understand how she must feel towards me. She must think that I was involved in her growing up environment…"

"No, I do not believe she thinks that. It's nothing personal towards you. She just has a distrust for humans altogether," Optimus explained.

"I see. Well, it's understandable either way. Maybe it will just take more time for her to understand humans better. I can't blame her for how she feels, " Secretary Keller replied with a nod.

"Thank you for your understanding, Secretary. I'm sure Catherine will thank you at some point as well," Optimus replied.

"Yes, I'm sure she will…. Well! Shall I show all of you around?" Keller asked, clapping his hands together happily.

"Of course. Thank you," Optimus nodded.

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It was nearing the end of the day, and Sam and Mikaela were back at the lookout, along with Bumblebee, watching the sunset.

"Do you think we should-" Mikaela started.

"Give them some time. They'll be all right, Mikaela, just stay calm. Cat said she'd call once she got settled in and I'm sure she'll keep her promise," Sam reasoned.

"I just can't help but worry… I mean, there's still the probability that there's a Decepticon or two out there waiting for them," Mikaela replied, her worry getting to her.

Bumblebee couldn't help but let Mikaela's worry get to him as well, as he revved his newly started engine at the two. Sam and Mikaela turned around, Sam giving their friend a big smile.

"You see what you're doing to Bee?" he asked Mikaela with a laugh.

Mikaela smiled at the poor Autobot and said, "I'm sorry Bee… You shouldn't be scared just because of me."

Just as she said this, her new phone jingled with one of the tones that was built into it. She quickly reached into her pocket and grabbed the phone, pulling it out and answering it in a rushed voice.

"Hello?!" she asked.

-Mikaela? Hey! It's Cat!-the cheerful voice rang through.

Mikaela smiled and nodded to Sam and Bumblebee.

"It's Cat! Hey, did you guys get there okay?" Mikaela asked.

-Yeah, we're all fine. Except none of my things have gotten here yet… But everyone's good. They're all being shown around by Secretary Keller right now.-

"You were more pleasant towards Keller this time weren't you?" Mikaela asked, looking to Sam who stopped smiling hearing her ask that question.

-Oh come on… Don't gripe at me right now, please?-Cat groaned.

Mikaela shook her head at Sam who shook his head as well.

"Just give him a chance for us, okay? He's done nothing but treat you like a daughter and all you can do is-" Mikaela insisted.

-Hey! My stuff is here! Hey, I'll talk to you guys later, okay? Gotta run!-Cat said her goodbyes and hung up quickly.

Mikaela looked at her phone and then to Sam, who was looking to her with great anticipation.

"She's never going to give that poor man a break," Mikaela said with a sigh.

"So, they're all okay then?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, they're fine. Went off without a hitch!" Mikaela replied with a sigh of relief and a smile.

Bumblebee revved his engine happily at hearing this.

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Cat hung up the phone quickly, hoping that Mikaela wouldn't question her any further. She got up quickly from the office that she had called from and walked, quickly to the shipping docks. Upon arriving, she saw several boxes, to which held her new clothes and frowned.

"Is this all that came?" She asked the loading dock manager who was writing on his clipboard.

"Are you expecting anything more?" The man asked, not looking up to her.

"If I weren't, would I have asked?" She replied sarcastically.

The man looked up at Cat with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing else has arrived, to my knowledge. I'll be sure to let you know if-" the man was interrupted by his radio blaring from his belt.

Cat watched as the man held a finger up to her, telling her to hold on a minute. She grumbled at being ignored in such a way, but she crossed her arms and waited. The man mumbled things into his radio and listened as someone on the other end talked. He looked up to the girl with an eye raised.

"Something has just arrived at the garage where you and your friends arrived… I guess it's for you…" he informed her.

"Good…" she said, walking away.

Walking through the corridors, Cat couldn't help but let herself get angry at some of the past memories. Some of the last times that she had walked through there, she was shackled and being escorted by guards, and monitored by lab technicians.

"Catherine?" The familiar voice of Ratchet rang through the hallways.

Cat turned to see him walked out of one of the laboratories, along with Ironhide and Jazz. They couldn't help but notice how she was tearing through the hallways in an angered state.

"Hey guys…" she returned the greeting and looked to them.

"Is everything all right? You seem upset," Ratchet asked.

Cat sighed and let her anger subside, giving them a newly formed smile.

"Everything's good, actually. I've got a new toy that's just arrived. You guys wanna come see it?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

Arriving in the same garage that they had arrived in just a couple of hours beforehand, a large moving van had parked backwards inside the garage. There was no writing on the side of it, but a man in a black uniform stood at the back of the truck, looking as if he were waiting for someone.

"Miss Andrews?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me," she replied, still grinning.

The three Autobots looked to each other with questioning looks. Cat had not informed them of what it was that she was expecting, so they were all wondering what it was that she had gotten excited about.

"Just sign here for me," the man handed her a clipboard.

Cat, gladly, signed the paper that was given to her as the man took a string of keys and rifled through them finding the key that he was looking for. He unlocked the key on the back of the truck's door and it flew open.

The Autobot's optics widened as they saw what was before them.

Cat grinned, wildly as she and the man pulled the ramp down from the back of the truck and climbed in. In just a few moments, Cat walked down the ramp carefully, guiding her new toy off of the ramp, and set it in front of her three friends.

"Well? What do you think?" she asked, looking up to them.

Before the Autobots was a two-wheeled contraption, with an engine attached to it's body. The frame was black, with red and orange flames printed on the sides.

"What is it?" Jazz asked.

"It's the world's fastest motorcycle! The Suzuki Hayabusa GSXR thirteen-hundred!" It can actually go quite a bit faster than you guys!" she said proudly.

"What's going on?" Optimus asked, Secretary Keller and him walking back into the large garage area.

"I do not approve of this!" Ratchet scowled.

"Why's that?" Cat asked, her smile fading as she overlooked the motorcycle.

"You could be seriously injured on something like this! _Killed _if nothing else!" Ratchet snarled.

Cat sighed and said, "Well, that's why I'm going to be extra careful!"

"You cannot tell me that you plan on being careful, when you just said that it could go faster than any of us?!" Ratchet asked.

"I didn't say that I planned on going that fast whenever I'm on it! Just when I really want to, or really need to!" Cat spat back.

Ratchet turned to Optimus and said, "Do you see this?! Just _try_ and tell me that your logic circuits don't find anything wrong with this!"

"So this is what you've been after me for, huh?" Keller walked to Cat and overlooked the bike himself.

"I'm sure that Catherine plans on being careful, Ratchet. Even if it is as dangerous as you say it is," Optimus eyed Cat with a fatherly look.

"She probably doesn't even have the knowledge to ride it! If she doesn't know what she's doing she'll kill herself, no matter _how_ careful she is!" Ratchet snarled.

"You don't have to worry about that, Ratchet," Keller said as he eyed the fine machinery in front of him proudly.

The Autobots turned to him.

"What's that mean?" Ironhide asked, just as worried as Ratchet, but impressed at the bike in front of him.

"I made her take classes and get the proper license for it. I told her that I wouldn't allow her to buy it off of her government stipend until she was fully trained. She did good on her part, so I did good on mine," Keller said as he looked up to Cat and smiled.

"Optimus, I still must give my disapproval of this!" Ratchet announced.

"Yes, well. Everything seems in order here, Ratchet. Unless Catherine shows neglectful use of it, this is her decision. I'm sure she'll behave herself," Optimus reasoned.

"Of course I'll behave!" a strange, twinkling smile was on Cat's face, which of course made her four friends cringe.

"I almost forgot!" the truck driver walked back up the ramp into the truck for a moment before reappearing with two boxes.

"Oh, right! I'm going to need those!" Cat smiled as she opened the smaller box sitting on the bigger one.

Pulling out another box, Cat turned and showed her friends her new helmet.

"See? I'm being responsible!" she giggled as she took the helmet out of it's own box and put it on, making the needed adjustments.

"Well, I should be going," Keller said as he looked to his watch.

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Secretary," Optimus thanked.

"It's not a problem, really. Just give me a call if you need anything else!" The Secretary replied as he waved to the group, walking out of the room and heading for the helipad.

The truck driver closed the back door to the truck, locking it up again and left the building.

"What's in the other box?" Jazz asked.

Cat took off her newly adjusted helmet and set it on the seat of her motorcycle. She reached in the bigger box and pulled out a heavy, black and white jacket. It had padding on the front, back and elbows of it.

"Awesome! It looks better than it did in the store!" Cat said happily.

"When, exactly, have you had the time to take classes, and get your motorcycle license?" Ironhide asked, looking over the impressive bike.

"I've been taking the classes during the day. I'm surprised you haven't been told about it by Sam, Mikaela or Bumblebee," Cat replied, trying on her new jacket.

"Bumblebee knew about this?!" Ratchet asked.

Cat smirked, "Yeah, well. Who do you think drove me to the classes?… Actually, I asked them not to say anything for a while," Cat admitted, pulling bits of cardboard pieces and plastic wrapping from her helmet.

"Why would you do that?" Optimus asked.

"Well I wasn't going to, originally. But then Sam's mom heard me and the other two talking about it and freaked out on me. She gave me the _longest_ speech… After that I absolutely _knew_ that I had to keep most of it under wraps, because I knew I'd probably get worse than a speech from everyone else," she shuddered at the idea of all of them being on her case.

"So you thought that if you just did all of this in secret, we'd have no objections once you actually did it, because you would have already gotten everything taken care of," it was more of a statement, than a question from Ratchet.

"Basically, yeah," Cat nodded with a bright smile.

The Autobots watched as Cat mounted the motorcycle and took some keys out of her pocket. She put them in the ignition and turned the key, the motor starting to purr. Cat smiled and looked over the bike as she shut the engine off again.

"Anyway, it's kind of late to be taking it out now. I'll get up nice and early for it's first run," Cat explained.

She looked up to her four friends and asked, "So, how do you guys like your new place?"

"The facilities here are very spacious. I think we will do just fine. Have you found your new quarters?" Optimus asked.

Cat looked down at her motorcycle the cracks of her mouth turned into a slight frown as she began locking her helmet around the handlebars of the bike.

"No, not yet…" she replied, paying attention to what she was doing with her bike.

"Secretary Keller informed me that they remodeled some of the living quarters into a large apartment space for you. I'm surprised that you haven't gone to look it over yet," Optimus wondered aloud.

"I'm going to be doing that here in a few minutes, actually…" Cat replied.

"Do ya want us to go with ya?" Jazz asked.

"No, it's all right… I'm quite capable of being on my own," Cat replied as she set her bike in it's own spot in the garage where it wouldn't be bothered.

"We should probably get ourselves settled in as well, "Optimus motioned for the rest of them to leave her be.

"Oh, right! Yes, well we'll see you tomorrow, Catherine," Ratchet nodded as he and the others walked out of the garage area.

Cat watched them leave and smiled. She appreciated them wanting to help her in any way that they could, but she needed to reintroduce herself to this place alone. After all, it was only a few months ago that she had made her escape from the same place that she now planned to live in.

Cat sighed and walked out of the garage and into the corridors. The once, dark hallways were now lit up completely. It seemed like a different place, so she knew that she needed to give it a chance. She walked to the nearest elevator and hit the call button.

"I think my room's on the eleventh floor," Cat thought to herself as she walked into the elevator and hit the eleven button. 

The elevator arrived to the floor, and she walked down the corridors. At the end was a thick, white door with the number "**7**" on the door.

"Ironic…" Cat thought as she took out some keys that she was given by Secretary Keller a month back when she had agreed to move in with the others. 

Unlocking the door, Cat slowly pushed it open and her eyes went wide with surprise.

Walking into the room, she was greeted by the setting of the sun through the floor to ceiling tall windows. The windows were on either side of the room, which was so wide that starting from the left to the right, there were the windows, then the dining room area closest to her, in the back of there was the kitchen; looking down the middle of the room was the hallway which led back to two bedroom areas and a study, then finally to the right was the living area, completely furnished with a fifty-two inch plasma screen television and furniture. It was all furnished from a completely full kitchen with a refrigerator, dishwashing machine, and stove, to the smallest of coffee tables in the living room.

Cat looked around and noticed that next to her room door was a large garage door, big enough for a car to fit through.

"Imagine that! It's also Autobot accessible! Probably a request from a certain medic," Cat laughed to herself as she knew that there was going to be a way for Autobots to get in, in case of emergencies.

"This will definitely do!" Cat smiled as she jumped onto the new, soft couch and relaxed, watching the sun set as she fell asleep comfortably.

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And as always...

Chapter Teaser!

They had finally settled onto a horror movie, and merely an hour into it, Sam and Mikaela had fallen asleep. It was getting somewhat late and Cat was about to wake the two to make sure that Mikaela got home before her mom called angrily for her. As she got out of the chair, her eyes suddenly caught something outside. Cat stood, frozen, looking out of the window. The room was dark enough so that no one could really see in, but Cat could see, very clearly, who was on the outside.

Manipulating the special lens in her left eye, she zoomed in on the big blue SUV that sat outside the home.

-Someone didn't learn their lesson the _first_ time…- Cat quietly walked out the back door and grabbed her keys on the way out, leaving her jacket and helmet.


	2. No Accidental Hero

Hey guys! Thank you for the initial reviews! It's always helpful to me to hear what everyone thinks of my story! Now, don't get all excited, this doesn't mean I'm really going to post every week again. I just managed to make this chapter the way I wanted it and decided to go with it. I hope you all like it!

And don't worry, there _will_ be more characters introduced in this story! -winks-

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any other trademarked item or name mentioned in this fic.

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"We, presently, do not require a night watch crew of our own. The American army has several recruits keeping this entire facility under a tight watch, so we may as well just keep to the humans' daytime schedule ourselves. Besides, we still have many things to make accessible to us in our new laboratories. I've had enough tie-ups trying to explain how things need to be run to some of these humans, we don't need anymore distractions to add to the things that already need to be done, than what we've already had," Ratchet explained.

It had been three days since the Autobots and Cat had moved into the Hoover Dam The four that had moved, were having a meeting about what needed to be done currently to ensure that they had a properly run facility that would keep to their own needs. Bumblebee, of course, had taken his position of guardian back in Tranquility for Sam and Mikaela. And Cat… Wait… Where _is_ Cat?

"Aw, Ratch. It's not as if we're runnin' on a time limit. We got plenty of time to get a proper system up and runnin' for ourselves," Jazz tried to reason.

"It wouldn't concern me if it wasn't for the fact that we still haven't been able to locate Barricade or Starscream… Or for the fact that the new tracking device that Catherine allowed me to install in her right arm doesn't work with our individual sensors yet, and I need the mainframe up and running," The medic replied.

"Where _is_ the kid anyway?" Ironhide asked.

"I believe I saw her leave very early this morning to ride that "motorcycle" of hers. It wasn't even sunrise when she left," Optimus replied.

"It's the middle of the day now. I wonder where she's gone off to this time?" Ratchet sighed, "All the more reason for us to get a mainframe computer of our own running as soon as possible. I've warned Catherine about the possibility of running into Barricade or Starscream, but it hasn't seemed to phase her into staying here for an entire day."

"You gotta remember Ratch, she may have come here with us, but she's considered an adult by human standards, and she has the freedom to do as she wants," Jazz explained with a slight chuckle. It amused him that their human friend was too fidgety to stick around for too long.

"True, although it doesn't completely mean that she's safe on her own. I have told her that I preferred she stayed within sight of the facility, although I doubt that she's taken my word at it," Optimus commented.

"I would feel more at ease if she had her full strength, or even her Alchemy powers, but she doesn't. Which makes her going off on her own even more worrisome." The medic sighed again.

"Understandable. How long until the mainframe is up?" Optimus asked.

"It shouldn't be more than a few hours now, as long as the humans follow my instructions as I have given them. They're doing very well, however they tend to want to make short-cuts to see if something different will work, and it makes things more difficult to sort out later…" Ratchet actually seemed a bit amused himself.

"I'm sure that they're just excitable about working with a newer technology," Optimus chuckled.

"Indeed they are… They seem to have a never-ending supply of questions," Ratchet replied.

"Sam and Mikaela were the same way," Jazz laughed.

"Well, if no one else has anything to bring up, then we'll adjourn for now," Optimus smiled as the others nodded, and they all separated for the time being, each taking care of his own newly arranged duties for their new base.

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As if it weren't bad enough that school had started again, Sam's class schedule left him apart from Mikaela with the exception of lunch. Oh sure, when she barely noticed him last school year they practically had every class together, now that they were in a relationship they just had to have every class apart. Sam pouted as he sighed and rested his head against the hand that he had propped up on the desk.

The teacher seemed to lazily give the English lesson for the day as he scribbled on the board. Seemingly to pretend as if there were no kids in the classroom. Sam was trying to follow along in the class work when something caught his eye. He looked to the door of the classroom and saw the smiling face of Mikaela waving to him. Sam chuckled silently and gave a small wave back as Mikaela blew him a kiss and walked away.

His cheeks and spirit were raised just a little before an image of the notorious football jock leaned forward, blocking Sam's view of the door. Sam's smile disappeared as the jock glared at him intensely.

The bell finally rang, it only seemed like hours had passed to the teenager, and Sam gathered his books into his backpack and wandered out of the door, picking up a worksheet from the desk of the teacher on the way out. As Sam turned the corner to go to his locker, two strong hands grabbed at either of his elbows and pulled him aside, slamming his back into another set a lockers. The boy suddenly realized that he was surrounded by half of the football team.

"Uh… H-hey guys… What's up?" Sam asked.

"I don't like you Wetwinky!" The familiar face of Trent came nose to nose with Sam.

"It's Witwicky-" Sam started.

"_You_ think that you have _my_ girl?! She's just using you to get back at me!" Trent pointed a finger in Sam's face, snarling like a vicious beast.

"She'll be crawling back to me by the end of the week, just wait and see!" Trent shoved Sam back into the lockers as him and his buddies walked off, smirking.

"You're wrong…" Sam suddenly choked out. He had faced giant alien robots and defeated them, why not try a human?

Trent stopped in his tracks and turned to the smaller teen.

"What was that?" Trent asked.

"I said… I said you're wrong…" Sam managed to say it again.

The jocks laughed and walked to within just a couple of feet of Sam.

"I'll tell you what, Ickicky… Tonight, at the park at six o'clock… If you can prove to me that you can take me on, I'll let you have her," he taunted.

"I don't need to prove anything to you," Sam narrowed his eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well if you don't prove it to me then… Then we'll come find you, and prove to _you_ that life's not worth living. Got it?" Trent threatened.

Sam didn't say a word. He just looked Trent dead in the eyes and walked away.

"Remember! We'll find you! And after that we'll take _good _care of you…" Trent threatened.

Sam had only walked halfway down the hall when a hand grabbed him by the elbow and he pulled back in a hurry.

"What's wrong?" Mikaela asked, shocked by Sam's pulling away from her.

"Oh… S-sorry… Nothing's wrong…" Sam replied, a half smile appearing on his face.

Mikaela looked down the hall and saw Trent and his buddies laughing. She turned back to Sam and asked, "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Sam replied as he walked on down the hall, Mikaela in tow.

"Sam, you shouldn't let those guys push you around like that! You saved _their_ sorry asses and the rest of the world when-"

"I said it's nothing!" Sam blew up at the girl.

Mikaela stopped dead in her tracks as Sam walked away. He had never yelled at her like that before. She watched as he turned down another path down the hall and disappeared.

Turning around, Mikaela came face to… chest with Trent.

"Hey baby. I've uh… I've missed you a lot. You know that Winkinky kid doesn't have _anything_ that your man, here, does. Why don't you just let me take you back and this will all be over," Trent went to reach for her when she pushed his hands away.

"Take _me_ back? You are _so_ confused," she snarled and walked away.

Trent yelled to her as she walked away, "He ain't got nothing that I don't already have!"

Mikaela stopped and turned around, walking back towards Trent, the boy smiling thinking that he had won her back over.

"He's got the one thing that you will _never_ have… A brain…" And with that Mikaela turned back around and headed for her next class.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

It was five o'clock that evening, and Sam hadn't yet apologized to Mikaela. No, instead he had been sulking in his room ever since he had gotten home. He had been watching the clock for the past hour, contemplating on what to do. Should he go to the park and deal with Trent? Or should he just go apologize to Mikaela and wait for the wrath to be brought upon him tomorrow at school?

His computer suddenly beeped with the familiar sound of an instant message. He looked out his window over to the driveway where Bumblebee sat in boredom.

Turning back to the computer, Sam saw the screen name "Bee-otch07" with a message.

Bee-otch07: Is there some reason that you and Mikaela aren't speaking?

Sam couldn't help but frown a little as he began typing back.

Ladiesman217: I sort of… yelled at her today at school… She's probably pretty upset at me…

Bee-otch07: Why did you yell at her?

Ladiesman217: It's… not important why. I'm just wondering if she'll ever talk to me again…

Bee-otch07: I'm sure she understands. Just give her some time.

Sam looked back at the clock next to his bed and saw that it was five-fifteen already. If he was going to go, he had better go now.

Ladiesman217: Hey, listen. I'm gonna go for a walk okay? I'll be back later.

Sam heard Bumblebee's engine rev in excitement.

Bee-otch07: Where do you need to go? I'll take you!

Ladiesman217: I'm not going anywhere specific. I just need to think about some things. You can just stay here and relax for a while, okay?

At that moment the engine shut off.

Bee-otch07: If you say so… You know where I'm at if you need me.

Ladiesman217: Yeah, I know. I'll be back soon.

And with that Sam signed off of his computer and grabbed his house keys, his parents being gone for a neighborhood watch meeting for the next two hours or so. He locked up the house and walked down the street, heading for the park, still contemplating the entire way about whether or not he should go through with this. He was certainly no body-builder, so he knew that his chances of beating the crap out of Trent were pretty much slim to none. But he was tired of the idea of the jock trying to beat him up around every corner. He didn't want to tell Mikaela, the obvious reason being that this was about her, and he didn't want her knowing. He could already hear her scold him for thinking that he "had" to fight Trent over her. But ever since Mission City, Sam couldn't help but feel like he was a different person, and that he could handle any new thing that was thrown at him.

After all of the contemplating, Sam hadn't realized that he was already at the park entrance. He stopped and looked behind him, seeing his way back out of this situation, and knowing that he could always just turn around and-

"Hey Wilkicky!" Trent's annoying jeer made Sam's stomach burn with anger as he turned around and saw the whole football team stand around Trent's truck.

Sam sighed. Well… This was it…

--------------------------------------------------

Bumblebee had been watching his internal chronometer the same as his young human friend had been.

-Sam's been gone for an "hour" already…- Bumblebee worried as he checked the time again. Yep, it was still six-fifteen… The same time that it was nine point three seconds ago.

Getting ready to fire up his engine to go look for his charge, he noticed someone walking up the driveway and quickly went silent. The sounds of the footsteps were all too familiar.

"Bee?" Mikaela asked as she neared the back of the house, "Hey Bee!" she smiled cheerfully.

"Good evening Mikaela. I wasn't sure if you were going to be coming by today or not. It's unusual for me not to see you for an entire day," the Camaro replied back just as cheerful.

Mikaela's smile lowered a little as her eyes darted around the backyard, as if wanting to avoid the whole subject of why she hadn't been by since being let out of school.

"Is.. Sam around?" she asked.

"No. He left over an hour ago to "think" and he has not yet returned. I was just about to go and look for him," Bumblebee's cheery tone of voice also lowered.

"Oh.. I see…" Mikaela sighed.

"Would you like to accompany me?" the Autobot asked.

Mikaela thought about it for a second before she saw the passenger door swing open. She smiled and hopped in, the door closing itself and the engine rumbling to life as Bumblebee backed out of the driveway carefully, and pulled away from the house, the two starting on their journey to look for Sam.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"There! Got it!" Ratchet declared happily as the main viewer for their new base computer turned on for the first time.

The medic typed away at the computer's large-ish control panel.

"What's all the fuss about Ratch?" Jazz walked in hearing his friend's exasperated yell of relief.

"I've finally managed to get this new system up and running. It's taken me much longer than expected, but it's finally finished!" the medic couldn't have sounded any happier.

"So watcha gonna do now that it's all up and runnin'?" the silver mech asked.

"My first order of business is to locate Catherine. Optimus contacted me a while ago and asked if I had seen her at any point today, and I haven't," Ratchet began typing away at the panel.

Jazz thought for a moment and added, "You know? I haven't seen or heard from her all day either."

"Indeed. If she left here at sunrise, then there's no reason that she hasn't returned. I'm one fried circuit short of sending the American military out in search for her… She could have run into a roaming Decepticon for all that we know!" Ratchet growled.

"Relax Ratch! This is Cat we're talking about ere'. She's got the stuff to be quite the fighter!" Jazz tried to calm the medic. He laughed mentally, knowing how much his friend disliked having their group separated without a way to contact the rest.

Ratchet stopped his typing and suddenly asked, "And have you seen her fight lately? She's been reduced to the strength of an average human. There would be no chance of her survival if she were to meet up with Barricade, or better yet Starscream."

"I s'pose you're right," Jazz sighed as Ratchet went back to his typing.

A few more minutes of this and there was an alert on the screen. With this Ratchet growled impatiently.

"What's wrong, now, Doc?" Jazz asked.

"Catherine's global positioning sensor is not functioning. I cannot locate her," the medic replied.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sam hit the ground once again, his face scratched, he was breathing rapidly trying to catch his breath.

"Oh come on, Winkimpy, you can do just a _little_ better than that can't you?" Trent taunted as his friends were laughing to encourage him further.

Sam pushed himself up off of the ground with the little strength that he had left, that was until he felt a foot pounding into the middle of his back, pushing him back to the ground, his face getting close and personal with a mound of dirt.

Trent bent down over Sam and whispered, "This can all end now… All you have to do, is never lay eyes on my girl again…"

Sam tried getting up, but Trent had at least one hundred pounds over him, so he was useless. But he was never going to denounce his relationship to Mikaela…NEVER…

"Come on weakling… Just say it… Say it and we can all go back to where we should be!" Trent whispered again.

Sam was going to attempt to get up again but he heard something in the distance. The group around him came to a quiet as well. It was the sound of a vehicle approaching. A few of the boys walked over to where the sound was coming from, seemingly to avert the driver's attention away from what was happening in their little group.

"Come on… there's got to be somewhere in that brain of yours that understands that you don't deserve-" Trent stopped in mid-sentence and looked up.

"Is there a problem?" the jock asked as he finally stepped off of Sam's back, although Sam didn't try getting up this time.

Sam could make out the sounds of some people talking in the distance, and then the voices began to get louder. Before Sam knew it, he could hear the sounds of fists hitting against flesh, and the sounds of people hitting the ground in response to those hits. Sam turned his head to the other side, but wasn't able to see much because there was a line of football players in his way. Suddenly, Trent's voice broke through the other noises.

"Hey you got a problem, pal? Why don't you come over here so I can teach you a little lesson about getting into other people's business!" he yelled as he walked faster towards the one that they were speaking of.

"If you've got a problem, then you can take it up with me you-" Trent was stopped in mid-sentence as he screeched in pain, a hit to the stomach made the boy go to his knees.

Two or three other boys started an approach on the person in question but they stopped at the sound of the cocking of a handheld gun. All of the boys stepped away, holding their hands in the air as if admitting defeat.

"…Go…" a low growl warned, the boys began to scatter away quickly, two of them picking Trent up off of the ground and aiding him to his SUV. The sound of another vehicle pulled up in the background and Sam turned to see who it was.

Bumblebee raced into the park, beeping his horn. He pulled up next to the grassy knolls of the park, and Mikaela jumped out, running over to Sam.

"Sam! Sam, are you all right?!" Mikaela asked as she helped the boy sit up.

The other cars, as well as Trent's SUV screeched away, out of the park, leaving it empty to Bumblebee, Sam, Mikaela and the mysterious person who managed to scare off the boys in the first place.

Mikaela looked up to see a motorcycle, and a rider in black rider's jeans, a black and white jacket, and a black, gleaming helmet.

"Who are you?!" Mikaela yelled.

The rider giggled behind the mask as they undid the strap below their chin and quickly pulled off the helmet.

Smiles went all around in great relief as Bumblebee transformed into his bipedal mode and walked over to the group.

"When did _you_ get here Cat?" Sam asked as he was helped to his feet by the concerned Mikaela.

"Just a little while ago. I stopped by the house but before I even knocked on the door Ron and Judy yelled for me from across the street and said that they'd seen Bumblebee drive away. I drove here thinking that you guys were going to be at the lookout and picked up different bio and heat signatures along with yours," Cat replied, her smile had faded as she noticed all of the small scratches on Sam's face.

"You're lucky that she got here when she did!" Mikaela looked down to Sam.

"More like those boys are lucky that they ran when they did. When I caught a glimpse of what they had done I pulled my glock out on them… If they hadn't had started to run, there would have been some dead high school students…" Cat growled.

"Cat," Bumblebee started, the girl looked up to him in response, "Optimus would not have been happy with you if he knew that you had killed defenseless children."

"And I'm sure he wouldn't have been any happier if he had found out that those defenseless children had beaten Sam to a pulp, either!" Cat responded, crossing her arms.

"What _were_ you doing out here by yourself with them anyway, Sam?" Mikaela asked.

"It's nothing…" Sam replied, not wanting to get into the details.

"It sure didn't _look_ like nothing!" Mikaela spat, crossing her arms as well.

Sam was going to drop the issue until he noticed that even Bumblebee was giving a look of being displeasure. The boy sighed.

"I… I had a little run-in with Trent today and-"

"And you didn't tell me?!" Mikaela's temper rose.

"I… I didn't want to start anything about the whole subject. I knew how you felt about me getting into scuffles over you, but he threatened to make my life hell if I didn't show up tonight…" Sam explained, wiping a spot of blood from his cheek and looking to his hand to check the substance.

"So you yelled at me, to keep me away from the whole situation, and then came out here to get your butt beat?" Mikaela asked sarcastically.

"No! No I… I didn't mean to yell at you… I was going to call you after this and apologize for yelling," Sam was trying his best to apologize.

"Sam, why did you not tell me that this boy had threatened you?" Bumblebee asked, somewhat hurt.

"I just wanted to deal with this on my own," Sam tried to make sense of the situation.

"And we can see what good _that_ did you…" Cat gave a sarcastic reply.

Sam looked to Cat with wide eyes for a moment, as a thought had occurred to him.

"Why are you looking at me so funny?" Cat raised an eyebrow.

"Teach me…" Sam suddenly spoke.

Cat's face suddenly contorted into a questioning look.

"Teach? Teach you what?" she unzipped her jacket and placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side a little.

"Teach me how to fight!" Sam ordered.

Cat was taken back at this, Mikaela and Bumblebee were a bit confused as well.

"Why would you want me to do _that_? You don't want to know the things I know Sam…" Cat tried to reason a bit with the boy.

"I'm tired of being defenseless! I want to be strong!" Sam yelled.

"You don't have to know how to fight in order to be strong, Sam," Mikaela tried to reason with him as well.

"Yeah, I mean… You _killed_ Megatron! Why would you need to know what I know about fighting?" Cat asked.

"That was only luck…" Sam lowered his head.

Bumblebee stomped forward suddenly and looked down to his young charge.

"That was _not_ luck and you know it Samuel! You defeated the one being that would ultimately have destroyed everyone else that you know if you hadn't used the power of the Allspark against him!" the Autobot exclaimed.

"I didn't know what it was going to do! I just knew that Optimus said that he was going to sacrifice himself with it if he couldn't defeat Megatron! I didn't have much time to think about it-"

"So," Cat interrupted, "_You_ thought, that by showing up those kids, you were going to prove to yourself that you weren't just an accidental hero. Am I right?"

Sam looked to Cat. She could really see through him like crystal clear glass.

"I guess so…" Sam sighed.

"Sam," Cat pinched the bridge of her nose with her head lowered and then looked back up to the boy, "Whether or not you _knew_ what the Allspark was going to do, you saved everyone! Anyone could have just taken that little cube and run with their tail between their legs, "Bumblebee cocked his head at the girl at the expression used, "But instead of doing that, you turned and faced certain destruction to save this planet. Not only this planet, but all of the other planets that would have suffered the wrath of the Decepticons. You are, by no means, an accidental hero. It was your fate to be the person that would save everyone… You don't need to face a bunch of teenaged boys to prove your worth to anyone."

"Especially to me…" Mikaela put her arms around the boy and looked up into his face.

"You don't need to beat up Trent to prove to me that you're stronger," she soothed.

Sam smiled a little, "Really?"

Mikaela gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Really."

Cat smiled, and the noticed that Mikaela looked around Sam at her.

"Now that _that's_ behind us. You couldn't stand being away could you?" Mikaela asked with a smirk.

Cat grinned sheepishly and turned to point behind her, "Just thought you guys ought to see my toy is all!"

"Cat," Bumblebee began.

"What is it?" the children looked to the yellow Autobot.

"Have you not informed the others about where you would be today?" he asked.

Cat contemplated this question for a few seconds and replied, "I guess not, no. Why's that?"

"I have just received a message from Optimus, alerting me to your "disappearance". You have everyone at the Dam looking for you…" he said in a warning tone.

Cat went a bit pale at the idea of receiving another speech from either Optimus or Ratchet. She sighed.

"They get so uptight! I didn't mean to forget to tell them that I'd be here, I just kind of made a last minute decision. Guess that was a bad idea, huh?" she tried to laugh it off.

Bumblebee gave the girl an uneasy look, "Cat, you need to inform them of your location now."

Cat pulled out a new cell phone from a zipped pocket in her jacket, "Why didn't they just call me?!"

"When did you get _that_?!" Mikaela asked.

"Another reason why I wanted to come by and see you guys, to give you my new number to-" opening her new flip phone she went even more pale, her eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Two hundred… seventy-eight missed calls…" Cat managed to say.

"WHAAAA?!" Sam and Mikaela's jaws both dropped.

"I guess I… forgot to turn the volume for the ringer back on… Oops…" The volume level of Cat's voice was nearly as low as the tone on her cell phone.

A few seconds of pushing buttons and Cat looked up to Bumblebee, "You're going to have to tell them yourself. My phone's nearly lost it's charge from them calling all this time."

Bumblebee nodded and a few "whirring" noises were made within him as he sent a message back to the Autobot leader.

"We should probably get Sam back home and cleaned up in the mean time," Cat zipped up her jacket and began to put her helmet on.

Bumblebee transformed back into his Camaro form as well, readying for the trip back home.

Cat climbed on her bike when she looked up to see a grinning Sam standing in front of her. Wondering what the boy could possibly be thinking she said, "All right I'll bite… What?"

"You mind if I hitch a ride? I've never been on one of these before!" he asked excitedly.

Cat could hear Mikaela's giggles and recognized a quick rev from Bumblebee as a laugh as well. She grinned and pulled off her helmet, throwing it at Sam.

"All right, just remember to lean when _I_ lean to turn, okay?"

"Yes!" Sam put the helmet on and climbed onto the secondary seat of the bike.

Mikaela jumped into the driver's seat of Bumblebee, waiting for Cat to lead the way so they could watch Sam's reaction to riding a motorcycle.

"Ready?" Cat asked, feeling Sam tightly grip her jacket.

"Ready!" he announced happily.

Cat turned the bike on and sped off out of the park, picking up speed fast, she laughed as she heard him screech happily.

"Do you think it's wise for her to be speeding so fast when Sam has never ridden a vehicle like that before?" Bumblebee asked Mikaela in concern.

The girl only laughed and replied, "I think it's a _great_ idea!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Having arrived back at the Witwicky residence and cleaned up Sam without getting caught by his parents, the trio of humans sat in front of the television flipping through the channels and talking.

"So are you going to call the base to make sure everything's okay there?" Mikaela asked.

"No, I figured I'd give it some time to let the guys cool off," she replied, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth, fending off her growling stomach. She had gotten somewhat used to regular foods, but she still refused to try a "Big Mac".

"Yeah, I'd be afraid of facing them for a while too," Sam laughed.

"I'm not _afraid_ of them, but ever since Mission City I've noticed how they've gotten overprotective of all three of us. They're like overgrown parents, they want to know where we are and what we're doing at all times. It gets annoying at times, trying to explain to them that I'm an adult," Cat explained.

"Bumblebee doesn't really do that, though," Sam corrected.

"Yeah he does, just not like the others. He's the baby of the group anyway, he knows that you guys want a little space. Which is probably why he let you take a walk by yourself today," Cat rebutted.

"Yeah, but he doesn't watch our every move or listen to what we're doing like the others do," Mikaela responded.

Cat raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" She reached over to the coffee table sitting next to her chair and gave it a few knocks in the "Shave and a haircut" fashion.

The teens were confused until they heard two, consecutive honks from the driveway. They stopped with the eating of their popcorn and their eyes went wide. "To bits" was the response. Cat smirked.

"I didn't know that he could hear us through there like that!" Mikaela's head whipped around to the wall that blocked their view from the driveway.

"I didn't know Bee knew the "Shave and a haircut" line…" Sam wondered aloud.

Cat only laughed.

--------------------------------------------------------------

They had finally settled onto a horror movie, and merely an hour into it, Sam and Mikaela had fallen asleep. It was getting somewhat late and Cat was about to wake the two to make sure that Mikaela got home before her mom called angrily for her. As she got out of the chair, her eyes suddenly caught something outside. Cat stood, frozen, looking out of the window. The room was dark enough so that no one could really see in, but Cat could see, very clearly, who was on the outside.

Manipulating the special lens in her left eye, she zoomed in on the big blue SUV that sat outside the home.

-Someone didn't learn their lesson the _first_ time…- Cat quietly walked out the back door and grabbed her keys on the way out, leaving her jacket and helmet.

She closed the door gently, so as not to wake her two sleeping friends from their quiet slumber. She noticed that Bumblebee was in recharge as well, and grabbed her bike, slipping it down the driveway without waking the Autobot. Getting to the end of the driveway, Cat looked directly into the eyes of the jock who was, for all purposes, waiting for Sam. She pointed to him, gaining his full attention, and then pointed down the road, signaling him to follow her. Turning the bike on, Cat sped away down the street, looking into her side view mirrors, she made sure that she didn't get too far without making sure that the boy was following her, which he was.

Finding a quiet, back alley behind a closed strip mall, Cat pulled in and shut off her bike, setting it up and waiting for the other's arrival. The SUV made the turn into the alley and shut off right away, four boys jumping out of the gas guzzler. Cat merely stood with her arms crossed, a serious expression painted across her face. The boys walked up to her, the three behind Trent seemed to be hold something behind their backs. They finally stopped within about ten feet of her.

"Are _you_ the one from today?" Trent asked, eyes narrowed at the girl.

"Sure am… You're lucky you got away when you did… I don't appreciate my friends being beat up, and I wanted to let you know that if I ever find that happening again, you _won't_ be walking away from what I'll be doing to you…" She glared, her yellow eye scanning each boy's bio-signatures, recording them for future reference.

"What's with the colored contacts and the arm? You a freak?" Trent and his friends chuckled.

Cat glare intensified and she took a step towards the group, causing them to stop with the laughing right away. Her last nerve was hanging by a thin strand. First they wanted to beat down her friend, and now they've insulted her… As far as she was concerned, they were all sitting ducks for her target practice. But she managed to calm herself.

"I'm not going to tell you again… Stay away from Sam and Mikaela, and your parents won't have to send search parties to find your individual body parts scattered throughout the city…" Cat huffed.

"The girl's got attitude," One of the boys snickered.

"She's got attitude, sure… But does she have what it takes to stand up against us when it comes down to it?" Trent walked forward, his friends behind him all revealed baseball bats from behind their backs, smirks on their faces.

Cat growled in response to the threat.

"You don't want to do that…" she warned.

"I noticed that you don't have your little toy to protect you this time," Trent pointed out.

Cat momentarily glanced down at her empty gun holster attached to her side under her left arm. She had placed the gun under the secondary seat of her bike because she knew that Sam's mom absolutely opposed having guns in her house. Her eyes went dead onto Trent's own eyes.

"No matter. I don't need it. That _toy_ was only a tool to deter your little friends from coming any closer to me," Cat scoffed.

"Is that so? Then I'm sure you won't mind if we… you know… _test_ your true skills out," the group of boys walked forward slowly.

"Last chance…" Cat gave the ultimatum.

The four boys only laughed as they came closer to her.

Cat sighed and decided that she had no other choice. She got into a defensive position and let her senses take over. Her left eye dilated, it's pupil grew until the yellow of the iris was but a thin, circle surrounding the pupil.

The teenagers ran forward, straight into the lion's den.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Mikaela woke first. She saw that she was in the arms of Sam who was laid back on the couch, snoring. She smiled and then looked to the chair where Cat was last and saw an empty space. Her smile faded as she looked around the room.

"Cat?" she whispered.

The back door opened and the familiar face walked in with a smile. Mikaela sighed.

"I thought that you'd left already," Mikaela sat up a little.

Cat smirked, "Nah, I wouldn't leave you guys without saying something first."

"I'm sure Optimus would disagree to that," the teen giggled.

Cat's face went pale again, "Oh yeah… Well, I wouldn't leave without saying anything on _purpose_. How about that?"

Mikaela laughed, causing Sam to wake out of slumber.

"What time is it?" Sam asked.

"It's nine-fifteen. You two ought to get some sleep before going back to school tomorrow," Cat said as she pulled her jacket on and zipped it up.

"So you're leaving then?" Mikaela asked as she stood and stretched a little.

"Yeah, I'd better be getting back before the other's have a fit. I'll see you guys some other time," Cat said as she grabbed her helmet.

Just then, Ron and Judy walked in.

"Oh, hello Mikaela. Hello Cat. Are you guys going somewhere on a school night?" Judy asked.

Sam rolled his eyes, "I'm going to take Mikaela home, and Cat's going back to the Dam."

Sam's parents looked to Cat with that "look".

"You're going to drive several hours at _this_ time of night?" Ron asked the girl.

Cat smirked and pointed to her left eye explaining, "Night vision, remember? It'll be fine. Plus, I'm already surprised enough about how I haven't heard a word from the guys since Bumblebee let them know where I was," she yawned.

There was a loud noise, everyone recognizing it as a certain yellow Autobot transforming into his bipedal mode. They walked outside to see Bumblebee standing in the backyard with his hands on his hips, looking rather proud of himself.

"What's up Bee?" Sam asked.

"Where the hell is my bike?!" Cat suddenly realized.

Bumblebee pointed to the garage, to which everyone looked and noticed that-

"Ron!" Judy started, "There's a motorcycle on the garage roof!"

Sam and Mikaela chuckled, "I don't think Bee agrees with you, Cat."

Cat rushed over to the Autobot, arms waving in anger, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"You are exhausted. I would never be able to forgive myself if I were to allow you to leave in that state and you were to lose control on the way back. So get some rest," the seeker looked proud of himself once more.

"What about-" Cat started before being interrupted.

"I will inform Optimus that you will not be returning as soon as expected," Bumblebee put his foot down on the matter… literally… as he transformed back into his Camaro form and opened his doors for Sam and Mikaela.

Cat sighed and turned to Sam's parents, "You guys don't mind if I-"

"Don't worry about it! You're practically family now! We don't mind!" Judy waved off Cat's formal request.

"It's not as if you don't know where your room is," Ron commented with a smirk.

As Bumblebee drove off with the two teens inside, Cat muttered, "You just wait until I get my full strength back.."

A couple of honks could be heard as the car drove off of the street, Cat smirked and walked inside the house for the evening.

-------------------------------------------------------

At the Dam, the others were about ready to pack it in for the night as Optimus reached the new medical lab that Ratchet had set up with the aid of the scientists.

"Hello Optimus. What brings you here?" Ratchet asked.

"I've just received word from Bumblebee that Catherine will be spending the night at the Witwicky's to rest," the leader informed him.

Ratchet scoffed and muttered something inaudible to Optimus.

"Old friend, I believe that we are being too strict with the children," Optimus started.

Ratchet looked to his leader and raised an eye-ridge, "And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"I received an audio feed from Bumblebee from a conversation that Cat had with Sam and Mikaela. Cat refered to us as "overprotective". Perhaps we should allow her to come and go as she pleases without making a fuss," Optimus explained.

"And what of the possible Decepticon threat? They're still out there just the same as we are Optimus," the medic replied.

"And has that stopped Catherine from going off on her own so far?" Optimus asked.

Ratchet turned away and muttered again.

"Exactly my point. I believe that if you could get that global positioning sensor to work in Cat's arm, we could always have access to where she is. And as long as we know where she is, we should allow her to do as she pleases. If there was any problem, she would most likely contact us anyway," Optimus made his point.

Ratchet turned back to his commander and asked, "And what of Sam and Mikaela? We have no way of planting sensors such as those on them."

"Bumblebee has taken charge of the both of them. If there was a problem, we would be the first that he would contact. We cannot keep interfering in their lives as if they need our protection from everything," Optimus finished.

Ratchet gave a sigh and said, "I suppose we overreacted today a little…"

Optimus laughed, stirring up the American army over the disappearance over one human girl was more than a "little" overreaction.

"Get some recharge, friend. We still have plenty of things to do to make this facility a home for ourselves, and it's not going to get done in one day," the leader ordered.

"Of course. Good night Optimus," Ratchet replied.

"Good night Ratchet," Optimus exited the med lab for the night.

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It was bright and early the next morning that Sam was awoken by his alarm clock. He reached over and banged the top of the thing several times before actually hitting the snooze button. He closed his tired eyes and fell back to sleep for only a few seconds before there was a loud knock, and the door swung open in it's regular morning fashion.

Sam's mom peered into the room and yelled, "Come on Sam! Hurry up and get dressed or you'll be late to school again!" was her cheerful yell.

Sam groaned and rolled over, perching himself on the side of the bed as he sat up slowly, his tired eyes begging for rest. Muttering something unrecognizable, the boy decided that it truly was time to get up.

The newly dressed Sam walked out of his room, running his hand through his bed head hair. He stopped by the guest room and noticed that the door was open a crack. Opening it the rest of the way, he figured that Cat had left, but was pleasantly surprised to see her sleeping form in the bed. She was on her stomach, her false, right arm hanging off of the bed, the fingertips just barely an inch from the ground. Her other arm was wrapped under her pillow, her face was softened and emotionless as her back rose and fell gently with each breath. It was a sight rarely seen by their group. The sight of Cat actually resting peacefully. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Sam was about to wake the girl when a hand went to his shoulder and he looked back to see his father, who had a finger to his mouth in order to command Sam to make no sound.

"She has a long drive back to the Dam today, and you need to get to school," Ron whispered softly," leave her to sleep a little longer and get downstairs."

Sam sighed and nod in reply as he continued down the stairs to the kitchen. As much as he knew his dad was right, Cat was nothing short of an older sister to him. And he really wanted to say goodbye before she zoomed off again. He knew that Mikaela would feel the same way.

"Cereal?" Sam's mom asked, still cheerful.

Sam looked to his cell phone at the time and shook his head, "No, I don't have time, I'll just grab something on the way."

Getting to the driveway, Bumblebee revved his engine and opened the driver's side door to allow the boy entrance.

"Morning Bee," Sam murmured, still basically half asleep.

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Getting to the school, Sam parked Bumblebee in the back lot, so that no other car was around to scuff up the doors.

"See ya at three, Bee!" Mikaela waved, the Camaro honked in return.

Sam had an arm around Mikaela, they were both smiling and chuckling at the conversation they had on the way to school.

Walking up to the door, the two stopped suddenly as the doors burst open. Their eyes went wide at the new sight before them.

Trent and three boys behind him all had swollen, purple bruises all over their faces, one boy had both wrists in Velcro guards, another had his left arm in a sling. Trent had one arm wrapped around his side, showing that he had either fractured or broken some ribs.

Even with all of his present issues, Trent hastily took hold of Sam's shirt collar with his free hand and got nose to nose with him. As he was about to say something his eye caught something in the front of the school. Slowly driving by was a dark figure on a motorcycle. The rider didn't seem to be paying attention to the road, but rather seemed to have a fixed gaze upon the group.

-Trent's flashback-

And as he lay on the ground, moaning in agony, curled up into a fetal position, the girl knelt down beside him and looked him dead in the eye.

"I will _always_ be protecting them… The one moment that you forget that, is the last moment that your mind will have time to think… EVER… Got it?" The girl asked.

Trent mustered up the courage to nod ever so slightly in reply.

The girl got up and turned her back, going to her motorcycle, when she suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Oh yeah… One more thing…" she knelt back down to Trent quickly and he closed his eyes shut tightly, thinking that she was going to strike him one final time.

"It's "Witwicky"…"

And with that, the girl smirked and stood up, turning towards her motorcycle and mounting it, taking off out of sight.

-End flasback-

Trent's mind was so focused on the memory that he hadn't noticed that he had let go of Sam's shirt. Sam and Mikaela staring at the jock in confusion.

"Later Witwicky…" Trent snarled as he and his buddies turned back to the school and disappeared down the halls.

"Sam did you-" Mikaela started to ask.

"-I didn't do that to them, I swear it!" Sam wished, greatly, that he had been the one to have given Trent the battle wounds, but he knew that he hadn't landed even one single punch on any of those boys.

"You know what's really weird?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I heard it too… He called you by the right name…" Mikaela replied.

The sound of a cheerful honking made the two turn around. The figure riding the bike waved and then sped off towards the interstate.

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other and at the same time said, "Cat…"

Yep. Things were definitely going to change for the teens all around. Not just in their personal lives, but in the whole social scenes at school as well. And it was a change that they welcomed.

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Instead of a Chapter Teaser this time, I'll give you guys a Fun Fact about this story. Fun Facts will usually be about the chapter that I've posted, or something about my thoughts on the chapter or just random things from time to time. Sometimes I may give you a Chapter Teaser, other times I may give you a Fun Fact, or sometimes I'll give you both. Teehee, I'm so random!

Fun Fact

Originally, this chapter was non-existant in the Soul Recon series. In fact, it was non-existant until just a few short weeks ago, when the idea came to me just very suddenly. I figured that it would probably be better if I established new living for everyone all around, just not Cat. In actuality, I had never intended Sam's parents to be informed of the Autobots or even Cat, herself. I had written a few parts of a few chapters of Soul Recon while writing the end of the original story. And while writing for the end of Project Seven, I realized more and more that I wouldn't be able to keep the parents out of the loop, so I went back and rewrote parts of the chapters to Soul Recon to fit the ending of Project Seven.


	3. Meeting you Again

Hey guys! I decided, since it was the holidays and all, to give you a little extra treat. Now this little piece is out of order from the story. It's supposed to have taken place on Christmas eve, but I have stories that I've written for before the Christmas piece, so try to stay calm, I'm not skipping that far just yet. And of course, for all of you who's ever wondered, I've given Cat an extra twist in the romance department. That should spice things up, don't you think?

I hope you all enjoy this little segment, and I hope that all of your holidays and New Years has, and will be wonderful!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, but I own Cat outright.

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I was only a young boy when my father first took me to his work. Of course I wasn't supposed to be there, by any means. "Official government secrets" he would tell me. "Information that could cost this country it's very life as we know it" he would remind me. But that one day that he snuck me into the lab, I couldn't help but wander. For Pete's sake, I was six years old, what did he really expect me to do? But that day, I will never forget what happened when I found myself in the midst of that laboratory…

"Daddy?… Daddy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run off! Could you please come find me?!" A little boy of six was trembling as he walked through a hallway that was barely lit.

It was Christmas Eve, and the scientists and lab technicians were given these two days off for the holidays. Only a skeleton crew remained to keep watch over the Hoover Dam. The doors that were normally heavily guarded were only being watched through camera monitors, and they weren't being watched over very well.

The youngster walked through a set of double doors and then down yet another darkened corridor.

"Daddy?!" the little one yelled, taking tiny footsteps as he looked around each end of the halls, continuing his short journey.

Walking halfway down the hall, he noticed another set of double doors, but these were a thicket of steel. The door handles were icy cold to the touch as the boy reached up to them. He pulled his hand away quickly from the cold but couldn't resist the urge to see if he could open the door. Pulling on the left door handle, it only went halfway down as he ran into the locked mode. It wouldn't budge. The little boy sighed and turned to continue down the hallway, but before he did went past the edge of the left door, he heard someone stirring within the confines of that room. He slowly turned to listen for anymore movement.

"Must have… heard it in my head…" the child consoled himself.

Another sound of rustling from behind the doors. The young boy walked back to the doors and this time reached up for the right door handle. Pulling on it slowly, it reached the halfway mark and to his surprise went even further, as the mechanism in the door clicked, cracking open just a hair. The boy peeked in and looked around as if to make sure that no one was paying attention. To his good luck, the guards were more interested in the company Christmas party that was going on rather than watching the video footages.

Opening the door and sticking his head in, the boy's hazel eyes scanned the room. It was just barely lit, just as the hallways were. Except there were brightened monitor screens at the back of the small room.

"Daddy?" the boy chimed, but of course there was no answer.

The quiet of the room was disturbed by more rustling noises on the rear of the room, where on the left side there was a small, barred room.

"Hello?" the boy called out.

Another rustling noise and he noticed that a small hand grasped at one of the bars.

"Who's there?" a little girl's voice asked.

The boy walked forward until he was nose to nose with the bars of the cell, the hand had removed itself from the bars and was buried in darkness in the back of the cell.

"Are you lost too?" he asked.

The little girl snorted and replied sarcastically, "Lost? I wish… If I were lost I'd at least make sure it wasn't in _this_ place…"

The little boy grasped at the bars himself and said, "Where's your mommy and daddy?"

"… I don't have parents…" the girl's voice went cold.

"You don't have parents? What kind of kid doesn't have a mommy and a daddy?" the boy asked, thinking that the girl was telling a fib.

The sounds of metal clanging silently against the ground came from the back of the cell, and walking into the light, a young girl appeared. Her icy blue eyes glared into the boy's own eyes as he looked at the strange sight in front of him. The little girl's right arm was… metal?

"Wow! What's _that_?!" the little boy asked, enthralled, "Is that one of those "power glove" things from TV?!"

The girl looked to her right hand and then glowered up back at the boy, "Who are you?…"

"My name's Evan… What's your name?" Evan asked.

"….Seven…" the girl replied.

Evan giggled and said, "No, I asked what your name was, not how old you were!"

"And I told you my name… It's Seven…" the girl snarled.

"How old are you?" Evan asked.

"Six…" Seven replied.

"Me too! That's cool!… So… What are you doing in here by yourself?" Evan asked, looking around.

"I was born here… And I'll die here too…" Seven sighed as she walked up closer to the boy just a little.

"Die? Why would you die?" Evan asked.

"Five says that eventually they're going to kill us… That we'll never get to even see the sun for our entire lifetime… We're experiments… Lab rats, you could even say…" Seven replied.

"Five? Who's that?" Evan was confused. Most kids, his age, talked about their favorite television show, or their newest toys. But this girl could only talk about death.

The girl approached the boy until her face was mere inches away from his. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment as Seven opened her mouth to reply to him. Before another word could be spoken, the sound of the metal doors burst open. This startled Evan as he backed up a little with a slight jump, Seven made no movements whatsoever as she looked to the door.

"Evan! There you are! Do you know what kind of trouble I could get into for having you in here at all?! Not to mention having you back in the restricted areas -" the man pressed forward until he saw the little girl looking at him through the bars of her cell.

"Oh… Hello Seven…" the man said with a frown.

Seven backed up into the shadows once again.

"No, wait! This is my daddy! He can help you!" Evan looked to his father, "Daddy you have to help her! She said that someone's going to _kill_ her and-"

"Don't bother…" Seven growled.

Evan looked to shadows then back to his father, who knelt down in front of the boy, "What's she talking about daddy?"

"Son…" the man looked to his child with a sorrowful expressions, "Remember when I told you that there were a lot of secrets here?"

The small boy nodded in reply.

"You can't tell _anyone_ about this little girl. Can you do that for me?" the man put a hand to his son's shoulder and looked dead into his eyes.

"Not even mommy?" Evan asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Well… Your mother knows about her too… But you can't tell anyone other than mommy or me… Okay? We could be in a lot of trouble if anyone outside of this room knew about her," the man encouraged.

Evan looked to the back of the room, where he could just barely make out those icy blue eyes, which turned away from him and back into the dark room.

"I… I guess so…" Evan replied.

"That's my boy. Come on. Let's go," the man led the boy out of the room, but as they walked out of the door, Evan turned back towards the cell and grasped at the bars once more, looking into the shadows.

"You're not going to die here! I don't know why, but I know that you're not going to die here! You're going to see the sun one day… I promise!" And with that, the youngster ran back out of the room, joining his father.

A metal hand gently held onto the bars of the cell as the little girl's trembling voice said, "I hope you're right…" the hand releasing it's hold of the cell and disappeared into the darkness once more, only the sound of the door clicking into place and locking was left.

And since then, I can't help but have dreams, once and a while. I keep dreaming about when I first met her, and for some reason I believed that she escaped. Ever since a few months back, when my parents died in the "accident" at the Hoover Dam, I began to wonder about her again. Something in my heart tells me that she's free… I don't know why, but it's what I want to believe, so that's what I tell myself. Maybe one day… I'll meet her just one more time…

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"Shaw!" A harsh, male voice screeched, causing Evan to jump out of his skin practically as he quickly saved his journal entry and closed the web page that he was on, looking up at his boss.

The older man sighed, his beer belly was barely covered by his button down white and blue striped polo shirt. His shaggy, grey hair shook out of place as he brought an accusing finger up to the younger boy's face.

"You were visiting outside websites again, weren't you Shaw?" the older man growled.

"Uh- Of course not, Mr. Wright. I was just-uh… Getting Wednesday's presentation ready, and you just startled me is all," Evan came up with a story pretty quickly.

"I know that you know better than to believe that I'm that ignorant… I've been monitoring your computer, you've been doing nothing but write in your little diary-"

"Journal.."

"Excuse me?" Mr. Wright raised an eyebrow.

"It's… It's not a diary, it's a journal…" he replied, looking down to his desk like a dog with his tail between his legs.

The older man looked around quickly and leaned towards the boy, "Evan, I know that you just haven't been the same since your parents died, but you've got to get your head out of the clouds! I can't have all of our meetings with incomplete quarterly reports… You make sure to have that report done and ready by Wednesday, got it?"

Evan's shoulders slumped, he knew what was about to be said next.

"I'll put you down for overtime late tonight, but this is the last time! One more mess and…" the man stood back up and shrugged, "And I'll have no other choice but to fire you. Do we have an understanding?" Wright made it perfectly clear what the boy's options were.

"Yes sir…" Evan replied.

"Good. Don't disappoint me Shaw," and the man left Evan in his little cubical, which overlooked the city of Las Vegas.

Evan sighed and buried his head into his hands. Yet _another_ night of overtime.. It's a good thing that he has the nearest Chinese restaurant's number on his cell phone's speed dial…

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It was around nine o'clock at night, and empty cartons of beef and broccoli, rice, and sweet and sour pork were scattered all over the place, the sounds of a computer keyboard typing away. Evan sighed deeply as he leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his short, dark brown hair, his eyes focusing up on the ceiling before looking back down to his desk, catching on a small item. Reaching over to shuffle some papers off of the small thing, Evan was happily surprised to find that fortune cookie he thought that he had misplaced.

Removing the plastic wrapper, he held the small dessert with both hands on either end and closed his eyes.

"Please tell me that I'll finish this report sometime in the next millennia…" he pleaded as he broke the cookie apart, the small slither of paper was in the right half.

He grabbed the paper and looked over it's words carefully.

"You will meet your fated other soon. Lucky Numbers 2,4,5,7,10"

"Fated other, huh? Well maybe that other can finish this damn report for me," he laughed as he shoved the slip of paper in his pocket.

Looking back at the computer screen, Evan munched on the last bit of fortune cookie and slammed his fists down on the desk.

"There's no way that I'm finishing this tonight! It's Christmas Eve for crying out loud! I'll take the chance and try finishing it before the meeting on Wednesday…" Evan grabbed all of the empty cartons of food and threw them in the trash can under his desk, grabbing his coat and saving his work before leaving.

Getting to the parking lot, Evan jumped into his old, shabby early nineties Cutlass Calais. He threw his suit coat in the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt, starting the car up and pulling away. Of course by this time everyone else had gone home, so the parking lot was completely empty, allowing Evan to speed out of there as fast as he could.

Making his way past highway "95" as he sped east on highway "93", Evan hadn't even been listening to his radio as he was making his way to his small apartment in Boulder City.

"Thinks he can just keep me there forever… They don't own my soul!…" The older boy muttered to himself, not even noticing that he was going nearly one hundred and ten miles per hour. It helped that he was the only motorist on the road at the moment.

Rummaging his hand through his pants pocket absentmindedly, Evan felt the little slip of fortune cookie paper fall out of his pocket. Trying to catch it, he only managed to change it's direction of fall as it landed on the floor closer to the passenger side. He reached down to pick it up and brought it to his face overlooking it once more.

In a split second, something caught his eye as he looked up and saw that just about fifty feet down the road there was a…. A giant leg? Evan slammed on his brakes and swerved to avoid the thing, but only managed to turn his car sideways into the metal ligament, hitting it at a high rate of speed. This caused him to hit is head against the driver's side window, putting a crack in the window, and giving the boy a severe headache. His head hung for a moment as he moaned in discomfort from the blow, but looked up quickly when he felt the ground rumble.

The "legs" walked around to the front of the car and something bent over. The next thing Evan knew red "eyes" were staring at him brightly, and a rumble of laughter startled the boy.

"Humans are such weaklings!" The laughing black metal of a face stood back up, and a hand grabbed the car and flicked it, causing it to roll over.

It was only a good thing that Evan had buckled his seatbelt, because it was the only thing holding him in place, even though his already aching head hit the top(now bottom) of the car. He reached up and unbuckled the seatbelt, which caused him to fall the rest of the way to the roof of the car. He, then, reached up and grabbed the door handle of the door. With all of his strength, he shoved the door open and noticed that he was no longer on the road, but in the middle ditch between the two stretches of asphalt. He crawled into the soft grass and turned, seeing the "creature" walking towards him.

"Still alive, eh? Not for long!" the thing taunted Evan as a large metal hand began to reach towards him.

The hand stopped as the sound of a motorcycle speeding towards them. Evan looked towards the westbound portion of the road and saw a black motorcycle with orange and red flames on the sides pull up, the rider wearing a helmet with a black and white rider's coat. The bike came to a full stop in a hurry as it swerved to the side a little.

Evan waved his hands at the rider yelling, "Run! Get out of here!" But the rider only got off of the bike and stood it up.

"Didn't you hear me?! Get out of here before you get killed!" Evan yelled angrily.

"Stupid human! You should listen to good advice!" The large beast growled.

The rider then reached under their chin and undid the strap for the helmet. Bowing their head, they pulled off the helmet, long flowing brown hair emerged from the space, and a smiling woman's face pulled back up, staring up at the metallic being. Evan stopped waving his hands in shock. Why did that face look so familiar?

"What's the matter, Barricade?! Don't you remember me?!" The girl shouted.

Evan was even more shocked when the giant robot stepped back in it's own shock.

"No… It can't be! Megatron killed you! How is this possible?!" "Barricade" asked in a shaky voice.

"It takes more than a scrap heap of metal to keep me down!" the girl threw her helmet to the ground and walked forward, "And now it's time to show you what happens to bad little Decepticons when they toy with humans!"

The girl began to run forward, the beast running away. It… "transformed" into a mustang police interceptor and sped off towards Boulder City. Evan watched as it's red tail lights disappeared into the foggy night. He looked over to the girl who was standing in the middle of the road… Just standing there…

"H-hey.. W-who are you a-anyway?" Evan's pain caused him to relax on the grassy area as he stared up at the girl, who was unmoving.

Evan was about to yell at the girl to get her attention when he heard her talking.

"Yeah, Optimus it's me… Yeah I activated my emergency alert… Well, I'm afraid that I've had a sighting of Barricade… Calm down! I'm fine! It looks like he's headed to Boulder City. It's a small town so he's probably not going to stay there if he's afraid that I'll come after him… No, it was pretty funny actually. He didn't seem to like the fact that I'm alive and he took off like a bat out of hell!… It's an expression Optimus… Human injuries? I don't know…" The girl looked behind her at Evan.

"Hey! You okay?!" she yelled in an uninterested tone.

"D-Does it look like… I'm… Okay?!" Evan yelled, his anger rising.

The girl turned back around and sighed, "It'd probably be best if you called an emergency vehicle out here. I got a guy out here who's car rolled over… Okay… Why would I wait? I'm going after Barricade, someone will be out here in a-… Why not?!… Oh, come on! I could take him if I wanted to and-… It's not like I'm-… All right all right! Don't blow a gasket, okay?… Okay, bye," she turned around, a cell phone in her hand, and a Bluetooth device in her ear. She put the cell phone away in her pocket and walked over to Evan.

"Sorry you had to see that guy. It's a lot of uh… stuff… to explain," she took off her rider's jacket and put it over the boy. It confused Evan as to why, just a short moment ago, she seemed totally uninterested in his welfare, and now she was showing compassion.

Evan looked up at the girl who was kneeling over him. And the first thing that caught his eye was her metal right arm… Wait… Metal right arm?

"S-Seven? Is that you?" he asked.

The girl looked at him, completely taken off guard. She stood up and looked down at him, her eyes wide… Wait, did she have a yellow eye? That wasn't there when she was young, was it?

"Is it… really you?" he asked again, this time a little more unsure.

"Who the hell are you?!" the girl yelled as she backed up a little.

"You probably don't remember me… We met when… we were six years old… I'm Evan… Do you remember?" he asked, hoping that he was right.

"I… I-uh…" The girl looked around as if she were searching for the answers on the ground.

"Seven, it's me… You don't remember… do you?" Evan heard the sounds of an ambulance arriving, and so did the girl.

She looked down to the boy and backed up. Turning to run, she picked up her helmet, quickly shoved it on and jumped on her bike, burning rubber as she took off, out of sight.

"W-wait… Come… Back…." Evan blacked out, the sounds of paramedics jumping out of the ambulance was the last thing that he heard.

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Sitting up quickly with a gasp, Evan looked around the small hospital room where he had been sleeping for quite sometime.

"Seven?!" he yelled.

A moment of silence was taken in before another boy, about Evan's age ran into the room.

"Dude! You're awake! Man, you had us going there for a while!" he exclaimed with a cheerful smile.

Evan sighed with a sinking feeling… No he didn't dream that, she left him…

"What's seven? And why were you yelling for it?" the boy asked.

Evan looked to his roommate, "I'm sorry, Josh… Guess it was just a dream…"

"Well dream no more! They're cutting you loose here pretty soon, and we can get you home, man! I'll go get the doc in here," Josh left the room.

Evan leaned back onto the propped up head rest and looked across the room into a mirror.

"Maybe… It was all just a dream after all…"

As he stared into the mirror, he saw something across the room. Looking over to a closet, Evan got out of bed slowly and walked over, opening the door all the way, as it was already cracked open just a tiny bit. There, hanging alone in the small closet, was a black and white rider's jacket.

Evan pulled the jacket from it's hanger and turned it around, looking it over all the way. Running his hands in the pockets, he found the little slip of fortune cookie paper.

"They found that in your hand when the paramedics brought you in," Evan jumped at Josh's voice.

"Do they know who the jacket belongs to?!" Evan asked urgently.

"Sorry dude, they said that they caught a glimpse of someone riding away on a motorcycle without this jacket, but no one got the license plate number," his blond friend shrugged.

Evan sighed and looked back to the jacket.

"At least I know…" Evan whispered.

"Know what? Are you sure you're feeling okay dude?" Josh put a hand on his friend's shoulder in concern.

-At least I know that she's really alive… Maybe one day- Evan thought to himself as he gripped the jacket- one day, I'll meet her again…-

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Since this kind of is a Chapter Teaser in itself, it's just going to be a Fun Facts moment.

Fun Fact

I actually got the motorcycle idea from my brother. He has a great passion for motorcycles and cars and such, and he owns a nice crotch rocket. His friend owns a Hyabusa, so I implemented it into Cat's own lifestyle. She seemed like the motorcycle type anyway.


	4. Letterwriter

Hey guys! I know this chapter is a little short, but I knew that you would want a little preview of the baddies... Yes I said "baddies"... Anywho, thank you for the reviews so far, I hope to see more and more! You guys are really what keeps my stories going!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, however I own soul custody of Cat(Project Seven)!!

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"Our current projects aren't much of anything at the moment, sir. We haven't seen any improvements in the DNA structure. Every time they reach the fifth stage their cell structure breaks down. We haven't managed to keep that from happening but we're steadily working on it," a man set a report down on another man's desk.

There was a long pause before the man sitting at his desk sighed and stood up. He paced for a moment before settling at a window, his back to the other man, who stood in waiting for some sort of response.

"So there was no way for you to get back into the base to retrieve our old information?"

"No sir, not yet. We have someone who is currently closer to getting in than the others could have but-"

Just then someone burst through the door, startling the two men who were speaking.

"Sir!" yet another unknown figure ran up to the other two unknown figures.

"What is it?! Who is this?!" the man at the desk demanded.

"I'm sorry sir, this is our operative who has been trying to access the dam for just under a month now," he turned to this newer figure, "What is it?" he asked with clenched teeth.

The newest figure was panting, obviously he had been in a rush to get there to inform them of something rather important.

"It's… It's her, sir!" he said suddenly.

"Her, who?!" the figure head asked.

"It's Project Seven, sir! She's alive!" he managed to blurt out.

The other two men stood in near shock.

"What are you talking about?! Project Seven was terminated in Mission City along with Project Eight!"

"No sir! I have the proof here!" he handed over a stack of reports.

"She was found! It doesn't give the specifics as to how she survived her illness, but it states that Project Eight was destroyed, and Project Seven was found alive! She was taken to Mission City Memorial hospital, then released to the care of Ronald and Judith Witwicky of Tranquility, California!" he showed them the reports page by page with all of the important names.

"Witwicky? Why does that name sound so familiar?" The figure-head wondered aloud.

The second man responded quickly, "The government was looking for a Samuel Witwicky a few days before the attacks on Mission City."

"Yes, but there's more!" the third man said excitably.

"Well?! What else is there?!" the man at the desk asked.

"She's _living_ at the Dam!" he had been holding another folder to which he opened it, pulling out several photos.

The two men took the photos from the other and stared at them in complete, and utter shock.

They were pictures of a woman standing amongst some rocks, overlooking the dam. And other photos of her riding over the dam on her motorcycle. One photo, specifically, made the two men's hearts nearly stop beating. It was an amazing telephoto shot of her eyes. One, sky blue, the other electric yellow.

"And you're sure that this is her?" the first man who was standing in front of the other's desk asked.

"Of course it is," the head figure standing behind the desk replied, the other two looking back to him.

"Those are the eyes of our little Seven all right…" he picked up a photo frame from his desk and sighed.

It was a picture of a young woman who looked like… Well it could only be best described as our young friend, Cat. Except she had the brown-eyed feature instead of the blue eyes. She was laughing and had an arm wrapped around a younger version of the man who was holding the frame.

He sat down at the desk, putting the frame down and looking back at the photos of Cat.

"We designed these projects after her… All of them looked so much like her… Except for Seven. She had every feature except for her eyes…"

The other two men looked back at each other and then to the figure-head.

"She was the only one born with blue eyes… And this yellow eye here… When we redesigned project Five into project Eight we gave her special lenses that allowed her to see every spectrum of light and dark, as well as heat signatures and biorhythms. They were both the only two projects who could ever use Alchemy correctly… Something happened to Five, and I bet that Seven used her body to correct the malfunction with her immune system…" he looked up to the two men in the room.

"What else do you know about her?" he asked.

"Well, she has been given a new identity, and full citizenship. She has a birth certificate and everything," the third man explained.

"And what's her new identity?"

"Sir?" he was confused.

"A name, you moron… What did she decide to call herself?"

The third man picked up some of the report papers until he came upon one certain page.

"Andrews, sir. Catherine Lillian Andrews. It states that she decided to name herself after her surrogate, who died in some of the accidents at the Dam, the same day as the Mission City incident," he explained.

Another long silence.

"What do you want us to do, sir?" the second man asked, feeling hopeful for this new bit of information.

The first man turned in his chair with the back to the other two.

"S-sir?" the third man asked, wanting to know what his next task should be.

The man turned back around in his chair and looked to his men.

"Let's kill two birds with one stone, eh? We'll try and convince Catherine to come and visit first… If we're lucky, perhaps she'd be willing to aid us in our problems with the new projects."

"And if she refuses?" the second man asked.

"Then we'll make her an offer she can't refuse… No matter what offer it has to be…" he looked to the paper that had the Witwicky's names on it," If what I think is correct, Seven, being a part of the original seven functional projects will have the blood we need to bring these other projects to life…"

"Why do we need the other projects sir?" the second man asked.

The head figure looked up to this man and with an indignant response said, "What are you talking about, fool?"

"If we can capture Project Seven, then we can use _her_! We can resume our testing and training with her!"

The figure-head scoffed and looked away.

"No, really! Think about it! Half the battle has already been fought with her! We could skip through the whole nonsense of raising an infant and get on with the _real_ grunt work! She's already been through several thousand tests in her lifetime, it would be nothing more than what she is already used to!" he went on.

The figure-head looked to his second in command.

"Let's just start out with my plan first…" he decided, "I need to get to know this woman better before I resume any testing… Granted in time, I will do as I wish with her powers, but for now, I wish only to understand her new life a little better…"

The second in command seemed somewhat disappointed, but bowed his head and said, "As you wish, Mr, Elric…"

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Cat was standing on a ledge of rock, which overlooked the Hoover Dam under the glow of the full moon. She hadn't been able to sleep that night. Something in her gut instincts told her that there was reason to worry.

"Cat?" the familiar voice of a certain Autobot leader approached.

Optimus had seen Cat leave the Dam in a bit of a rush, and decided that he had better follow to ensure that there wasn't a problem.

The girl turned to see a large semi transform into the bipedal form of Optimus. She was somewhat glad that someone she trusted was there with her because at the moment she felt quite unsafe. As if the security of her new life was somehow in danger, as well as her friends.

"Cat, are you all right? You left the Dam in a rush, and didn't even bother taking your motorcycle with you," Optimus asked. Surely, he thought, there was something very wrong if she hadn't even bothered with her prized possession.

"I'm sorry I left in such a hurry, Optimus… It's just that… Something feels wrong… I don't know how to explain it but… I had a sick feeling in my stomach and I needed to think on it," she didn't even smile.

Even Optimus, who knew Cat, but didn't spend quite as much time with her as some of the others did, knew that she would at least wear her fake smile if it wasn't serious.

"What is it? Should I call for Ratchet?" he asked.

Cat had been holding a piece of paper in her hand, and the paper wrinkled and tore as she balled up her hands into fists.

"No, it's not that kind of sick… But something is wrong… Very, very wrong…"

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Chapter Teaser!

Ratchet chuckled quietly to himself and turned back towards what he was doing before the girl had interrupted him.

"So what's on today's agenda?" she asked as she sat on the edge of the large examination table, dangling her legs over the side.

"You've been very quick to learn how to repair Cybertronian systems, Catherine. However, today we're expecting some new arrivals, and they'll be coming here for an examination shortly," he explained.


	5. New Arrivals!

Hey guys! Just thought I'd update the newest chapter to Soul Recon! Thank you for your reviews! I appreciate all feedback to my stories! It's pretty funny, I think the original "Project Seven" has taken just as many hits as this story has! I've decided to make this a two part chapter. This post is long enough without having to add more to it!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers! But Cat is the creation from my own noggin', so no stealie stealie!!!

**------------------------------------------------------------**

**September 16th, 2007**

**New Arrivals**

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"I'm telling ya, there's no way that you're going to beat me!" Jazz complained over an early morning argument.

"You're just afraid of being shown up!" Cat smirked as she sipped her coffee.

"I've seen ya ride that motor-bike of yours! You'd be eatin' my dust before you could even shift out of first!" Jazz shot back.

Cat's smug grin could only grow as she stood up from the smaller, human-sized table which sat nearby the larger, Autobot-sized table. She walked over to the sink and conveyor belt which sent dirty dishes to the kitchen staff and placed her empty coffee mug on the belt. She then said, "Yeah, well when you're ready to accept that you'll be defeated, you're more than welcome to give it your all and race against me!"

"Fine then!" Jazz slammed his hands down on the table, "After my shift, I'll be sure and kick yer aft then!"

Cat turned and smiled even bigger, "Well good luck trying anyway!"

Cat left the lounge area and looked to her watch.

"Oh man, if I'm late to the lab again, Ratchet will give me another speech!" she grimaced at the idea of another "responsibility" speech, and made a run for the lab.

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-Flashback-

Cat looked around the corner of the inside of the garage and saw that no one was in the corridors. She quietly tiptoed down the halls, still wearing her biker's jacket, holding onto her helmet. She got to the end of the hallway where she would soon open the door and run up the empty stairwell. Hoping that after she reached the eleventh floor she would just be able to make a quick left-handed turn and be able to open her room door up without so much as one bothersome complaint from either human or Autobot.

Feeling a grin pass over her lips, Cat was only two, maybe three, steps away from the stairwell. Her hand at ready to push the safety bar which ran across the middle of the door so she could make a quick dash up the stairs.

And then she heard it.

"So nice of you to rejoin us, Catherine," The sarcasm in Optimus's voice was clearly evident.

Cat froze in her spot and turned to see the leader walking towards her from another angle of another corridor. He came to a halt just a few paces away from Cat and put his hands to his hips in waiting for a response from the girl.

"Hey there… I was just-uh… Going to put my things up and then-" she started.

"Come find me to explain yourself?" he finished for her.

"Uh… yeah," she gave him a cheesy grin.

"I think you and I had better have a chat," Optimus turned and walked back down the way he had come, apparently expecting the girl to follow.

Cat slumped her shoulders and muttered curses under her breath, knowing full well that the Autobot could hear a pin drop in a crowded room a mile away. She looked up to see that he had glanced back at her with a slight grin and then turned back forward again. They walked only a minute more before coming to a bay door which opened after Optimus pressed a button off to the right of the door.

The two walked in, Cat taking in the features of the room. It looked to be a board meeting room of some sort, a transformer-sized rectangular table along with several chairs scooted underneath of it. Optimus motioned for Cat to climb up into his palm after leaning down to her level. She jumped into his hand and was brought up to the table, being allowed to carefully walk out of the Autobot leader's palm onto the table's hard surface.

Cat turned as Optimus pulled out a chair and sat down, looking down upon the girl. She, herself, took the opportunity to sit down on the table, setting her helmet down next to her.

"Cat, I know that you are still getting used to your new living situation. All of us are. However, as with my men, I expect proper notification before any of you leaves for certain lengths of time," he began to explain.

Cat sighed, "To be honest, I don't feel like I need to report to anyone… I've been under careful watch for the past twenty years of my life, and I suppose I half-expected freedom to be more about me just exploring on my own."

"I see.. I can't say that I blame you for wanting this freedom, but you must understand that we consider you a part of our troop. And when one of my soldier's goes missing, it causes some concern," Optimus responded.

Cat looked up to him in a somewhat confused look on her face. They considered her part of their troop?

"We've discussed about what we should do with you, and we think that we have come up with a solution," Optimus smirked.

-Uh oh… That can't be good- Cat thought to herself.

-End Flashback-

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So, after her little overnight trip to see Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee in Tranquility, the four Autobots at the base decided that she needed to start learning bits and pieces of things from each Autobot. This time around she was to spend time with Ratchet and learn about Cybertonian systems and how to repair them. Hoping that this skill was the most important, just in case any, if not all of the transformers were knocked offline and needed a quick repair during battle.

Running as fast as her new, weaker legs could run, Cat tried her best to avoid running into any of the humans who roamed the hallways.

"Hey!" One of them shouted as she just barely clipped the man by his shoulder.

"Watch it!" A woman yelled, spinning around quickly to keep from being run over by the girl.

Cat made it to the second floor and skidded into the lab, nearly knocking some of the file cabinets over as she ran into them, falling to the ground. She was mumbling and cursing to herself as she noticed a shadow looming around her and looked up.

Ratchet stared down at Cat as she gave him a sheepish grin.

"You're late…" he said as he picked the girl up by the scruff of her shirt and set her down on the nearest table.

"Are you injured?" he asked, about to scan her over.

"Of course I'm not!" Cat scowled as she stood up, brushing herself off.

Ratchet chuckled quietly to himself and turned back towards what he was doing before the girl had interrupted him.

"So what's on today's agenda?" She asked as she sat on the edge of the large examination table, dangling her legs over the side.

"You've been very quick to learn how to repair Cybertronian systems, Catherine. However, today we're expecting some new arrivals, and they'll be coming here for an examination shortly," he explained.

"New arrivals?" Cat asked, wondering what he meant, "You mean new human technicians?"

"No, no. I've just gotten off of communications with Optimus. We've received several signals from other Autobots, who are arriving on Earth. They should be here at any time," Ratchet replied.

"You mean there are more of you?!" Cat asked, wondering if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Of course there are! You didn't expect that there were only five of us left in the whole universe did you?" Ratchet replied.

"Well, I mean… You guys never talk about other Autobots. I figured that… Well maybe you _were_ the only ones left," Cat thought aloud.

"After the destruction of the Allspark, Optimus sent a message out to any Autobots left who may have been hiding amongst the stars in the universe. And we've finally gotten a few replies. The government has set up an area where they can arrive safely without any disturbances," Ratchet explained.

"How many are we expecting?" Cat asked.

"We have only received four replies, as of now. We've identified two of them as known Autobots, and the other two were barely readable, but they _are_ Autobots," Ratchet replied.

"Well? Who are the ones that you know?" Cat asked.

"One of them is a mech by the name of Wheeljack. He's a science officer of sorts. And other is a gunner by the name of Bluestreak. The other two signals are from the same source, so whoever they are, they'll be arriving at the same time," Ratchet went on.

"So, where are they going to arrive at?" Cat asked.

"A few miles from here in a part of the desert that isn't within range of human civilians. Ironhide and Jazz are going to meet them in just a few moments and bring them back here."

"Ah… Good…" Cat said.

Ratchet looked over to the girl, seeing the bored look on her face, and asked, "Perhaps you would like to go with them?"

Cat's head perked up and she asked, "Really?"

Ratchet nodded.

"You've learned the most difficult parts of the working Cybertronian system, and I have no diagnostics to run today, except for the newest arrivals. You may as well go along with them for now," he replied.

"All right!" Cat shouted.

"You'd better save the celebration for later, Jazz and Ironhide are about ready to leave," Ratchet advised.

"Oh, right!" Cat jumped off of the table and began running to the hangers, but not without Ratchet hearing some of the humans yelling at her for nearly running them over once again.

"Ratchet to Jazz," Ratchet opened the comm. link.

"Jazz here. What ya need?"

"You haven't left yet have you?"

"Not yet. We're about ready to though, why?"

"Give it a couple of minutes, Cat's coming with you," he advised.

"Confirmed."

"Good, Ratchet out."

It was only a minute before the crashing sound of Cat running through the hanger doors, making the two Autobots there, and the technicians turn to look at her mangled form. Jazz picked the girl up in the same fashion that Ratchet had and looked her over.

"Still haven't gotten used to the new legs have ya?" He asked with a grin.

Cat grumbled as he set her down and transformed into the Pontiac Solstice and opened the driver's side door for the girl. She got in and watched as Ironhide transformed into the GMC truck, and the outer hanger doors opened up, letting them out into the desert.

Only a few minutes into the early morning drive and they arrived at a spot which seemed very secluded from human eyes. They stopped, and Cat got out of Jazz's car cabin and looked around. There was nothing but sand dunes and the downcast of the white, hot sun blazing upon them.

"Don't see anything yet," she said with a yawn.

"It shouldn't be too much longer, "Jazz thought aloud.

"So who are we expecting first?" Cat asked.

"Blue should be getting here in just a few seconds. Wheeljack will be a few more minutes. We'll be taking them back then coming back later to meet with the other two," Jazz replied.

Cat looked up into the sky in front of them and started to say, "I don't see anything -"

Not looking behind her, Cat was startled when the loud "BOOM" caught her off guard as a meteor-looking object shot down from the sky and landed several hundred feet away from them, shaking the ground and knocking Cat over. She quickly got back up as Jazz and Ironhide transformed into their humanoid forms and walked over to the object, which was still on fire as it began to move around. Cat watched as it began transforming from a giant fireball into a giant, gray mech. It turned around to her two Autobot friends and began speaking in Cybertronian. Cat couldn't understand all of it, because she hadn't learned a whole lot of the language from Ratchet's teachings yet. But from what she could understand, it was your basic greetings.

The three Autobots nodded at one another with each phrase as Cat caught up with them, peering out at the gray robot from behind Ironhide. After only a moment of the greetings, the gray mech looked down to Cat with wide, blue optics. It spoke in it's native tongue to her, not that she could understand any of what it was saying.

After a few seconds of this, Jazz interrupted the gray mech and was apparently explaining something to him. There was a strange "whirring" noise within the gray mech and it's blue optics flashed back at Cat.

"Is this right? I hope it's the right language because this planet has several different languages. But this is the one that I could find as "English" although there seems to be several versions of pronunciation for this one language. Can you understand me? You can't understand me can you?" The gray mech translated.

"Whoa there! You're quite the talker!" Cat put her hands up as she walked forward.

"Oh good! It _is_ the right language! Hello there, by the way. My name's Bluestreak!" He announced cheerfully.

-I'm starting to understand where he got his name from…- Cat chuckled to herself.

"It's good to see ya, Blue!" Jazz translated back to English in order to allow everyone in on the conversation.

Bluestreak turned to Jazz and grinned, "Yeah, it's been a while, huh?"

"Too long, Blue," Jazz replied.

The grey mech looked back down to Cat and asked, "So this is a human? They're a lot smaller than I thought they would be-"

"SMALL?!" Cat huffed.

The grey mech nearly jumped out of his armor at the sight of the angry human.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant-"

"Small-_er_, Cat." Ironhide helped the new Autobot with his choice of wording.

"Cat?" Bluestreak suddenly realized something.

"Is this one of the humans that Optimus Prime mentioned in his report?" He asked.

"Yea, this is one of em' all right," Jazz replied, looking down to Cat.

Cat raised an eyebrow and said, "I didn't know that Optimus put us in his message."

"Ah, yes. He said many things about what happened after you guys had located the map to the Allspark. He talked about the battles and the people that you had come across and, of course, the battle in Mission City and the fusion between the two humans and-" Bluestreak rambled.

"Okay, okay! We get it, we were there…" Cat grumbled.

"I'm sorry, I know I talk a lot but-" As Bluestreak was about to go on another word bender, another "BOOM" came from above, startling all of them except for Ironhide.

"He's here a little earlier than we expected," the black mech stated sarcastically.

"Who else is coming?" Bluestreak asked.

"Wheeljack, and two others that we couldn't make out clearly in their message," Ironhide replied.

They all watched as the ball of flames flew over them, hitting the ground several hundred yards away. Again, Cat was caught off guard and was thrown to the ground due to the shaking from the mech's landing. Ironhide picked up the grumbling girl as he and Jazz gave a good chuckle. Cat dusted herself off as she was set back onto her feet.

The four of them walked over to the new arrival, which was in the process of turning into his humanoid form. After his transformation, the being turned around, having had his back to the others. The figure shook off some of the debris left by his entry and began transmitting the same language to the others as Bluestreak just had. They had their back and forth greetings, which already somewhat bored Cat.

Turning around to look about the desert, Cat's battle skills were reminding her to check and make sure that there were no other humans within sight of where they were. She already knew that there would be few who could spot the five of them. They were at least five miles from any known roadway or man-made structure. Still, she wanted to be sure.

Before Cat knew it, she felt a warm grip around her body, in a swift and smooth motion; she was brought up to the face of this new figure, which was looking over her as a child would a new toy. She was about to protest when she heard urgent notices from Jazz and Ironhide in their Autobot language. The figure who had a grip on her loosened up quickly, causing her to slip through his grasp, only to be caught by the ankle by the newcomer. She was now dangling about fifteen feet above the ground, her long, brown hair wafting in the wind, as well as her arms and right leg hanging in a mangled fashion.

Figuring that Jazz and Ironhide were about to have a fit of laughter, she twisted around to give them an earful only to see that they looked as if they were edging on panic. They spoke quickly in their native tongue.

"Hmm, very interesting," the newcomer had apparently been told about what language to switch to, "A bio-organism. Bipedal, as well a two extra limbs which serves the same purposes that our own arms do!"

"You just wait until I'm back on the ground! I'll show you what these two extra limbs can do!" Cat huffed as she swung her arms in a fit of anger.

The silver mech looked even more shocked, "Neural, stimulus responsive! Electric impulses carrying signals through the neural pathways which create cognitive thought processes!" he looked closer to the girl, scanning her over then probing her right arm with a poke from his giant index finger, "But this organic also has bionic limbs! How did this come to pass, I wonder?"

Before anyone could say too much more on the subject, they all heard the sound of diesel engine approaching and turned to see a brightly painted Peterbilt semi drawing near.

"Who's that?" Bluestreak asked.

Jazz and Ironhide smiled, "That's Optimus Prime," Ironhide responded.

Optimus skidded to a stop in the sandy dunes and transformed out of his alt mode, walking towards the group from about thirty feet away.

"My apologies for being late, I was held back by-" and then he noticed the dangling form of Cat in Wheeljack's hand.

"Go ahead… Laugh… I _dare_ you…" Cat crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at Optimus.

By this point the girl was beginning to feel the blood rushing to her noggin' as her red face was from more than just the angry fit that she was about to have.

Optimus smiled and walked directly to Wheeljack, putting a hand out to him, "May I have that, if you please?"

Wheeljack suddenly remembered that he was even still holding the girl and carefully deposited her into Optimus' waiting hand, "Yes, of course! I really had not researched humans until just now. Fascinating creatures! I'll be sure to do more research to study their cultures, and technology as well!"

"Perhaps you should study us _before_ handling anyone!" Cat seethed, rubbing her ankle where she had been pinched into a hold.

"My apologies, but organics always interest my scientific nature," the silver mech apologized.

"Did you not receive my full report?" Optimus asked, amused by Cat dusting herself off and cursing under her breath as he still held her in his outstretched hand.

"I'm afraid I was nearly too far to receive all of it's contents. I understood bits and pieces of it, but all I really understood was that there were Autobots waiting for others to appear on a planet called "Earth" which was inhabited by a race known as "humans". I was mostly just wandering the universe so I decided to see what it was all about," The silver bot responded with a shrug.

"We can only hope that other Autobots will decide to do the same thing, in the event that they didn't receive the message completely as well," Optimus noted.

"Yes, it would be a shame if any of them decided not to regroup with the rest of us," Wheeljack agreed.

Optimus turned to the other newcomer and smiled again, "And you must be Bluestreak. I'm pleased that you could make it as well."

"Yes! I feel lucky that I received your message when I did! I had no idea that there were any Prime's left! I suppose that there could still be some, other than yourself, but it was a pleasant surprise to know that there was one who was inviting other Autobots to come together again! I was even gladder to know that Jazz was here! Even Ratchet! I haven't seen either of them in millennia! I was practically still a sparkling when I saw them last!" Bluestreak went on.

"Quick! Somebody hit the "Mute" button!" Cat called out.

The group let out a huge wave of laughter following Cat's comment, all except for Bluestreak, who was confused as to what a "Mute" button was.

As the laughter settled, Ironhide turned to Optimus and asked, "Should we take them to base now?"

"No, not yet. You and Jazz see if you can't find some decent alternate modes for these two to scan. There are several car dealerships in Las Vegas that you can take them to, but try and keep them out of seeing distance from the humans until they scan their alternate modes. We wouldn't want to scare them again," The Autobot leader replied.

He looked down to Cat, who was settled in his palm and said, "Ratchet wishes for me to bring you back to the base for now, so that he can better prepare these two for examinations."

"I thought that there were still two more Autobots arriving?" Cat asked.

"Ah, yes. I just finished decoding the message that they had sent, completely. They won't be arriving until early tomorrow, if my calculations are correct. So there's no need to wait for them now," he remembered.

"Oh good, I get to sleep again before being handled like a mouse," Cat smiled as she gave her sarcastic comment.

"All right, then. Let's go you guys, so we can getcha back to the base and getcha settled in," Jazz ordered cheerfully.

Optimus let Cat down easily as she walked from his hand to the hard surface. He, then, transformed into his semi truck form, and opened the passenger side door, which was closest to Cat. She climbed in, the door closing softly behind her, and away they went, back to the base, as Jazz and Ironhide led Bluestreak and Wheeljack to Las Vegas.

"Hey Optimus?" Cat asked after a few minutes of traveling.

"Yes, Catherine?" he replied.

"…What's a "sparkling"?"

Optimus thought for a moment, trying to research on the World Wide Web to see if there were any good translations for what "sparkling" meant to them into human terms.

"A sparkling is a term we use for a young Cybertronian. Much like the ages that you refer to as "infancy" to "child" for a small human," he explained.

"So Bluestreak is a hundred years off from being a kid?!" Cat was a bit surprised.

"Not really. Bluestreak, if I remember correctly, is only a little older than Bumblebee. They're both a few thousand years old according to human calculations, but to us Autobots they're still closer to their sparkling ages than they are to being as old as say, Ironhide, or myself. Techically they are closer in mindset age to you, than they are to the mindset of some of the older humans."

"What about Wheeljack? How old is he?" Cat asked.

"I believe that he's the same age as Ratchet, but I'm not for certain."

"When I was just dangling from Wheeljack's hold, I figured that Jazz and Ironhide would be having a fit of laughter, but they seemed rather edgy. Did they not trust him?" Cat wondered aloud.

"It's not that he's untrustworthy as an Autobot. It's just that as a science officer… Well he's been known to have a few of his experiments…" he made the noise of clearing his "throat", "Some of the things that he handles will sometimes just, inexplicably, explode," He explained.

Cat looked a little fearful, "Come again?"

"Do not worry Catherine. I doubt that humans will have the same effect on him as his science projects do," Optimus chuckled.

"Let's hope anyway…" The girl cringed, but went on with her questioning.

She raised an eyebrow and a slight smirk appeared on her face, "So exactly how old _are_ you anyway?"

"…Old…" was the only response.

"So Bluestreak and Bumblebee were only kids when your war started?" Cat asked with a sorrowful glance.

"Bluestreak was, in human terms, a young adult. If I remember correctly, he went through some extremely turbulent times. I think we were lucky that he didn't offline himself after what he went through. Bumblebee, however, was closer to the age of an "infant" when he was found. His creators were destroyed, and he was barely alive himself. We practically raised him from the day of his creation," Optimus replied with a slight hint of remorse for his two comrades.

"… So they're kind of like me…" Cat practically whispered.

"In what respect?" the Autobot asked.

"They were born into learning how bad life could get…" Cat replied.

Optimus felt his spark wrench in his spark chamber. It was true that most of the Autobots that were still alive today were either brought into existence during the war, or had a very short lived happy life. Still only a human, such as Cat, could understand what that kind of life was like. She was born into a life of fighting, just as some of their own race was. It was unfair to both her and Autobots alike that all they could recall in their lifetime was war and pain.

"Cat," came the gentle voice of Optimus. The girl's pained face looked to the radio which was transmitting his audio feed.

"Do not feel badly for any of us. We are all still existence to fight for the rights of living peacefully. Sometimes, you must do that in order to attain what you wish for the most. War never comes without it's price to pay. One day, we will all gain back our lives, just as you have. You were born into being nothing more than a "project" so that humans could create the ultimate fighting machine to aid them in war. Yet you are now recognized as a promising citizen, with the rights of living the life that every other sentient being deserves," he tried to comfort both of their pain.

"Yeah… But it's like you said, "Cat lifted her right hand up, looking over it and balling it into a tight fist, "There's always a price… And we have to live with paying it for the rest of our lives…"

Cat's action of overlooking her bionic arm was not lost on Optimus. She shouldn't have had to pay a price. She never asked for the life that she was given, but she was right. She would be paying for what was done to her for as long as she was alive. It was just the same for the Autobots. They never asked for their world to be torn apart by something they didn't create.

"Do me a favor, Cat," Optimus started.

Cat looked back to the radio again and nodded slightly.

"Don't ever give up," was his only demand.

Cat was, at first, confused. But she realized that he was right. She probably would have given up if it weren't for Five being there in her early stages of development. And she probably would have given up later on if she hadn't met Sam, Mikaela and the Autobots. But what he was trying to tell her now was to be strong no matter who is or isn't by your side. A wide smile spread across her face.

"Deal, "she said.

"Truly, Cat, you are a human who has the spirit of an Autobot," Optimus commented cheerfully as they finally arrived to the Dam.

To be continued…

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Chapter Teaser! (of sorts)

So who are these two new arrivals? And is Cat trying to get back to training? What's this?! Is there Decepticon activity?! TWO Mustangs?! What the heck's going on here?!


	6. They just keep coming!

Hey all! Thank you all sooooo much for the reviews! I'm glad to hear that my writing is able to inspire others, or even bring a smile to your faces. It makes writing this so much easier. And believe me, I understand bad weather situations. Indiana has been nothing but a skating rink for the past couple of weeks...

My apologies for the two updates, I've had some, let's say... interesting... problems with fanfiction today... It's probably my computer's fault but, once again, my apologies.

Anyway, here's my next update! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do no own Transformers, but Cat is my soul property!!

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It was already the middle of the day when Optimus and Cat had returned from the desert. Cat had obeyed her orders to return to the medical bay where Ratchet was preparing his new space for examining their two newest residents. She reached the bay and before she could begin her work with a datapad, she was stopped by the medic.

"Come over here for me please, Catherine," he motioned for her to walk to him so that he could help her up on one of the exam tables.

"Uh… Sure, okay," she walked to the Autobot and allowed herself to be picked up after stepping onto the palm of Ratchet's black, metal hand.

Stepping onto the exam table, Cat turned and looked up at Ratchet, who was standing still, studying her carefully.

"What's the deal?" she was becoming impatient.

"Hold still for just a moment for me," Ratchet silenced Cat's annoyed tone of voice and continued what he was doing for a moment further.

"Thank you, Cat. That's all I needed," was the only response.

"Well? What is it?" Cat was already becoming irritated. First she was handled like a rag doll, and now her friend would not tell her why he was taking scans of her.

"After we first landed here, I did not take the time to scan any residual effects that we might have had on the humans. And after such prolonged exposure, it was useless to take any scans to tell if there were any defects to you three. I was taking scans to see if there were any problems with a mechanoid coming in contact with a human after being outside of the planet's atmosphere," he explained.

"You mean like radiation exposure?" Cat asked.

"Radiation, pollutants, things that are abnormal for your bodies to come in contact with. But I am satisfied with the results. The residual effects from your encounter were no more harmful to you than every day exposure to air," he finished.

"…Good to know…" Cat gave a confused, but sarcastic look.

"So? Did they seem in good health?" Ratchet asked as he began separating his tools out.

"Yeah, I didn't notice any major malfunctions in their primary systems. They downloaded information from the internet easily, and their speech relays were quick to make the translations needed to speak English. But I wonder if Wheeljack's communication sensor is out of alignment? He said that most of Optimus' message was garbled to him," Cat reported back to the medic, skipping the finer details of her encounter with them.

Ratchet smirked. Optimus, of course, had already given him a silent transmission of what he encountered after reaching the arrival point. He was tempted to leave it alone, but even Ratchet needed a laugh now and then.

"So…" he began, "Optimus informs me that you had a close encounter with Wheeljack's scientific nature?"

Cat froze from punching in information on the data pad and replied, "As long as I don't blow up… we're cool for now…"

The medic snickered, and continued on with his work.

"Oh! Which reminds me to ask," Cat turned back towards the neon yellow bot, "Is there something wrong with Bluestreak's speech processor?! That guy seems like he could talk until the cows came home!"

Ratchet looked at the girl, confused, and replied, "I do not remember Optimus mentioning that there were bovine in the dam," he stated simply.

"What's with you and your need to be literal all the time? It's an expression, for crying out loud!" Cat pointed out.

"Oh. My apologies," she could have sworn that he chuckled.

"So?" Cat was implying about the earlier question.

"If my memory chip serves, and I keep it in strict order so it does, Bluestreak's creators gave him a faster speech processor. However, they couldn't provide a proper program to keep those functions from deterring every thought process from being said," Ratchet thought back.

"So that's normal for him?!" she shuddered, "I'd hate to know how he talks when he's _really_ in a hurry!"

"Neither would I…" the medic agreed.

While Cat was getting a data pad ready for the readings that would be taken, Ratchet was going through his scans of the girl that he had just taken. In scanning her for residual effects from her encounter with the new Autobots, he had also taken the time to give her a full examination of her own. Going through every thing that was normal for humans and normal for Cat, he began to notice strange occurrences. Although these occurrences were normally something that would happen every so often with humans, there were just too many to ignore. He quickly rounded back to Cat as she was distractedly writing away.

"Catherine," a stern tone was evident.

"Hmm?" she turned to him, "What is it?"

"Pull up the right sleeve of your shirt, if you please," he ordered.

Cat's eyebrows went from innocent to annoyance in a flash.

"I thought we were done with this part?!" she asked.

"That's an order," he reminded coldly.

Cat pursed her lips and mumbled, "You're the boss…"

Pulling up the right sleeve of her elbow-length shirt, Ratchet reached out and pinched her forearm and turned it ever which way with wide optics. Fresh scratch marks were all over Cat's upper arm. He let go and motioned for the other sleeve to be pulled up. Still mumbling, Cat did as she was told and revealed even more fresh marks.

Without even asking, Ratchet turned Cat around and barely lifted the back of her shirt, to which revealed even more of these scratches, which were blood-red compared to the old, pink scars that remained from any previous battle she had withstood.

"Were these from this morning?!" the medic asked, irritated that she had not come forward about this.

Cat sighed, "No…"

"Well? Where did you receive these from?" he asked.

"Well…" her eyes strayed away from looking at him.

"Catherine," he gave her a warning.

"I've been… I've been training a little bit… Training the old way that I was taught to. There's a special room in the basement that I've been using at night to train quietly and-" she was cut off.

"And what does this training consist of, exactly? Running yourself into a wall?!" Ratchet put a hand to his hip and the other hand on the examination table where his fingers tapped in an annoying fashion.

"No! Of course not! The training program that's used is a holo-matter projector. One of the few things that the government came up with that was a good idea. The projector uses images of battle techniques where you're fighting enemies, and I wanted to see if I was still any good at it…" Cat confessed.

"And I suppose that you have proven this?" he asked.

Cat narrowed her eyes at the medic, "No… Actually these are from every instance where I couldn't keep up with the enemy, and was attacked by the holo-matter objects…"

"And yet you continued to try your hand at it?" his optics narrowed into itty bitty dots, signifying an intense glare.

Cat shrugged, "It's how I was taught to train. If we failed at a task, then we would be in the room all day until we succeeded."

Ratchet would have liked nothing better than to scold the girl for doing something so incredibly distasteful, but he had not forgotten how she was taught. He'd seen this before, back on Cyberton. When he would examine a Decepticon's corpse, he had noticed how there were always fresh welding marks on them. He would then later, find out that they had been trained in the same, brutal fashion. He sighed and called one of the human medics over.

"These need to be cleaned and dressed properly," he ordered the woman who looked over the markings and set off to find some cleaning solutions.

"But-" Cat started.

"No buts. Until we can find a more suitable way for you to train, you will not use that room," the Autobot shook his head, still in much disbelief over how far these secret government programs went. Nearly destroying the children that were raised this way.

The woman brought back the only solutions that were proper in treating small lacerations. She held a bottle, and a cleaning cloth, as well as several large bandages.

"No way in hell, are you touching me with that!" Cat seethed at the human as her eyes set dead onto the bottle of Rubbing Alcohol.

A few moments later…

The doors to the med bay shot open and four vehicles rolled in. Two being familiar as the alt modes of Jazz and Ironhide, and the other two must have been the new alt modes of Bluestreak and Wheeljack. They looked up to one of the examination tables and saw that Ratchet had a hand on Cat, holding her firmly down to where she was sprawled out, while a nurse was cleaning her cuts.

Jazz and Ironhide transformed out of their alt modes and walked over to the table, overlooking the situation.

"Wuz goin' on?" Jazz asked.

"Catherine is learning, the hard way, why it is a bad idea to try and hide things from her physician," Ratchet smirked.

"OW! Will you move on already?! You've rubbed that spot three times!" Cat hissed at the woman giving her the treatments.

"I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to stay still! I'm just about done," the woman reasoned.

Ironhide snickered, "Now we know why we heard those threats two floors below."

"Yes well, it has to be done to make sure that none of these wounds become infected," Ratchet then looked over to see what appeared to be two, brand spanking new vehicles from off of a lot.

"So, who is who?" the medic asked, not relenting on his hold on Cat.

A white, Dodge 2500 pickup, modified with special towing capacities, dual rear wheels, and specialized flood lights atop of the roof transformed into the giant form of Wheeljack.

"It's been quite a while, Ratchet," Wheeljack's form was now white armor with two flashing side panels on either sides of his cranial unit. The panels lit up with every word spoken from the science officer.

-That's a bit distracting…- Cat smirked to herself before her eyes went wide with another dose of rubbing alcohol to a cut –I am SO getting him back for this!-

"It's good to see that you're among the few left, Wheeljack. We could always use the help of someone as creative as you in advancing our systems," Ratchet smiled.

Looking down to the last vehicle, Cat saw a black, Dodge Viper with two silver streaks running from the front to the tail-end transformed into the newest look of Bluestreak. He had silver, blade, type of "wings" on his back, and a silver rifled mounted just behind his left shoulder. The rest of his armor was the same black as his alt form.

"I haven't seen you since you were just a sparkling," the medic smirked

"That's what I was telling these guys! I remember you and Jazz from a long time ago! Of course that was so long ago I can hardly recall those memory files. Of course a lot of my memory files from long ago were replaced by my newer memories. But, of course, that happens when mechs get older and-" Bluestreak was so far into his word bender that he hadn't noticed that everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing, including the nurse cleaning Cat's cuts. They were all staring at him with eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Well," Ratchet intervened, "You're all finished, Catherine. You may as well go ahead and leave for the day. Remember what I told you, though. No training until we find a more suitable program for you."

After being let up, Cat pulled her shirt back over her back.

"Yeah, yeah…" she was helped down to the ground by the medic and walked out of the med bay, a frown on her face.

-I try and be helpful, and what do I get? A lecture and pain!- Threw her arms up in frustration as she walked off to her room.

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Arriving to the medical bay just seconds after Cat had left, Optimus was happy to see that Wheeljack and Bluestreak had chosen their new alt forms, but was somewhat dismayed to see that no one in the room looked happy.

"Is there a problem?" The Autobot leader asked.

"We were jes about to ask the same thing," Jazz answered, then turned towards Ratchet, "So where'd she get all them cuts?"

The medic crossed his arms and sighed in frustration, "I'm afraid her old training has taught her some bad habits. Apparently there's a training room in one of the basement facilities here that has a holomatter projector, and she's been using it during the time that she's supposed to be recharging."

"What'd she do? Program _Starscream_ as her opponent?!" Ironhide bellowed.

"…I'm also afraid that her fighting skills are still not as they were before Mission City. Apparently she's not yet fast enough to defeat them," Ratchet replied, "As soon as I'm done with these two I'll be sure to check this training area out for myself."

Optimus nodded, "I will join you as well," he then turned to Jazz and Ironhide, "I actually came to relieve you of your shift for the day. Thank you for taking care of these two, men."

"S'not a problem!" Jazz replied as he and Ironhide gave a small salute and walked out of the med bay.

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"What do _you_ seem so upbeat about today, anyway?" Ironhide asked the lieutenant as they walked towards the lounge.

"I gotta bet with Cat. If she's still up to it anyway," Jazz answered confidently.

"Oh? What's the bet?" the security mech asked with a raised eye ridge.

Jazz smirked, "She thinks she can beat me in a race."

Ironhide scoffed, "This is something I gotta see myself!"

"Well if Cat's in a good mood enough for it, then you should watch as I beat the slag outta her on the track!" A triumphant and determined lieutenant gloated.

"That kid's always in the mood to try and show us up!" Ironhide laughed.

They arrived to Cat's apartment door and gave a stern knock. It was only a few seconds before an angry form of the girl opened the door. Her eyebrows were furled, her lips were pursed, and her arms crossed as she leaned against the door frame.

"What's the matter? Ratchet forget to torture me in another way today?" she scowled.

"Well I _was_ gonna ask if you were up to showin' me what you're made of, but I can see that you're busy sulkin'," Jazz smirked.

Ironhide was amazed at how quickly Cat's facial expressions had changed. Her glare had instantly transformed into a wide smile.

"Just let me grab my stuff! I'll meet you down in the garage in a few minutes!" her form was gone in a flash as her door was left wide open.

"That was easy," the black mech smirked.

"Yeh, I figured as much," Jazz snickered as he and Ironhide went down to the garage to wait for their human friend.

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They hadn't gone out more than a mile away from the Dam, but they were in a nice, large clearing. It would be far enough away from anyone who could spot them for a short race. Ironhide transformed into his bipedal mode once more, and positioned himself at the starting point. Jazz was in his alternate form, and Cat was just a few feet to the left of him, adjusting her helmet visor as she looked around for a finish point. The area was surrounded by a horseshoe of tall desert rock. It was probably a good two miles in radius.

"From here to there, "Cat pointed to the other side of the horseshoe, "First one there wins!" she reminded happily.

"Not to sound like the ole' Hatchet, but you'd better keep an eye out for rocks that your bike there couldn't take. If I brought you back all mangled both Optimus and Ratchet would -" Jazz started.

"You just let me worry about what's in my way. The only thing I want _you_ to focus on is how quickly you're going to be eating my dust!" Cat gloated as she revved the engine of her bike.

"Hmph! Let's get this over with then!" Jazz revved his own engine.

Cat smirked and asked, "Would you do the honors, 'Hide?"

The black mech stepped forward and to the right of the racers. He raised an arm and waited for just a moment, looking at the riders and seeing their confident forms steadily ready for takeoff. He brought it down quickly and stepped out of the way as both Cat and Jazz were speeding off in a flash.

They were neck and neck. Jazz was actually surprised at how well Cat's bike could pick up speed, and how well it was gaining even more speed. However, this didn't stop him from gaining even more speed himself.

Cat shifted into higher gears as they came upon the first, very slight, curve. This, somewhat, made Jazz nervous since Cat was the closest to the wall of the rocky ridges. Cat giggled slightly knowing that she was giving her friend a little grief, hoping that it would give her the edge she needed to pull ahead.

Ironhide noticed this little maneuver as well and cringed, "The kid's got some nerve trying a power move like that!"

"Slow it down on the curves! Yo' gonna run into the rocks at this rate!" Jazz shouted.

Cat only grinned mischievously and just kept up the pace that she was going. She was right, Jazz came down to a controlled speed so that he wouldn't lose traction in the sandy dirt, which enabled Cat to pick up at least ten feet in the lead.

Jazz growled. He'd been duped into slowing down and he knew it. They were still going close to two-hundred miles per hour, but that was still slow compared to what they would have been going on a straight, concrete path.

They were, now, over halfway through the loop of rocky ridges, Jazz was catching up with Cat, not ready to admit any kind of defeat. If he was going to lose, it had better been a damn good reason, like a tire blowout. Not a silly reason that he knew Cat would never let him live down! He was about to come within inches of beating the girl when something caught his optics way up in the sky.

Ironhide noticed it immediately too. Two fireballs streaking across the twilight skies. He radioed to Jazz quickly.

-Jazz! There's something - but he was interrupted.

-Yeh, I see it! Can ya tell where they're gonna land?!- Jazz couldn't calculate it easily since he was roughly riding through the desert at high speeds.

Ironhide scanned the two objects and quickly calculated the distance and probable place where they were going to strike the Earth. His optics widened.

-Stop, Jazz! They're going to come down directly on you and Cat if you keep going!- he yelled over the comm. Link.

Jazz quickly came to a halt, his brakes squealing intensely. This noise, however, was drowned out to Cat as her motorcycle's engine roared at it's high speed.

"Cat! Stop!" Jazz tried to yell, but the girl couldn't hear him.

Cat looked back to see that Jazz was far behind her and yelled, "What's the matter?!" with a wide smile on her face.

"Stop!" Ironhide tried to join in with Jazz to yell for the girl to halt, but to no avail. He, then, got the idea to point into the sky, waving his arms wildly to attract her attention while she was turned to look at Jazz.

The fireballs rocketed to the Earth at break-neck speeds. They weren't in Cat's line of vision at all, and it was beginning to worry Jazz and Ironhide that it might almost be too late by the time she _did _see them.

"Cat! STOP!" Jazz tried once more.

Cat looked over and saw that Ironhide was jumping up and down and flailing his arms all around, one of which pointed to the sky.

"What's _his_ deal?" Cat wondered.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and rumble beneath Cat's bike. She gripped onto the handlebars and slowed down enough to actually notice that Ironhide was pointing above her, and Jazz was pleading her to stop. She looked to where her friend was pointing and saw the two, giant fireballs heading towards her.

"Oh, this day just keeps getting better and better…" Cat commented sarcastically

Pulling on the handbrake, Cat's back wheel slid out to the side as she tried to make an immediate stop. She was only, however, too far away from being a safe distance from the landing area.

"CAT!" Jazz and Ironhide yelled in unison.

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Sam was just finishing up eating dinner with his family. He was aiding his mom with the dishes while watching a small, portable television. They were listening to the local evening news as they were cleaning up.

"What are you plans after dinner now, Sam?" his mom queried.

"I've got some homework to finish up on, and then I was thinking of going to the lookout with Mikaela…" he sighed. He really didn't like being asked what his every move would be, but sometimes he would just give in from arguing and tell his parents when they asked.

"Oh, that's nice! Mikaela's such a sweet girl," Judy cooed with acceptance, which made Sam roll his eyes.

"…Thanks mom…" he continued to washed the extra bits of food off of the plate and handed them over to be placed in the dishwasher.

"We have some breaking news to report at this time. Apparently, some strange object has just crash-landed on the outskirts of Tranquility. Reports say that a local junkyard has been evacuated due to the object landing in the middle of it's lot. However, when the police arrived to the scene, there was nothing unusual found. Witness are being questioned, but so far nothing has been linked to the crash."

Sam craned his neck to look over to the small screen, sheer terror was written all over his face.

"Did he just say what I thought he just said?" the teen asked, his mouth wide open in shock.

"Well that's odd… They saw something fall from the sky, but they can't find what made that mess?" Sam's mom commented.

Sam ran outside to his yellow friend, "Bee! Did you just -"

"I'm afraid so, Sam… But I think we might be in more trouble than we think…" Bumblebee responded.

"Why's that?! Is it a Decepticon?!" Sam's frantic tone was evident.

"I'm unable to scan it's signature code, but I do know one thing for certain… It's a half mile away and closing in on our position…" Bumblebee's Camaro nose was poking around the corning of the back of the house, watching for the object that was now coming dangerously close to his charge.

Bumblebee didn't know how good it would do him now, but he called the only help that he could…

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The phone was ringing at the Lennox home. They lived just a few miles away from Tranquility, but today had not been watching the news.

Sarah Lennox was washing dishes from dinner, as Will cooed and cuddled his infant daughter lovingly.

"Hon? Can you get that?" Will called for his wife.

Sarah sighed, but smiled. She enjoyed watching her two favorite people play together. She quickly walked across the kitchen and picked up the phone.

"Hello?… I'm sorry, he's a little busy at the moment can I have him call you-…. An emergency?… And who can I tell him is calling?… H-Hold on just a moment…" she poked her head into the living room and said, "Honey, there's a man on the phone who says there's an emergency and he has to speak with you."

"Who is it?" Will turned to look towards Sarah.

"He… Well he said his name is "Bee"?" Sarah looked confused.

Will picked up his daughter quickly and dashed to the phone, motioning for Sarah to take hold of the child while he spoke. Sarah dried her watery hands on a nearby towel and gently took her daughter from Will's arms.

Will took the phone, "Hello?"

-William, there is an emergency! An unknown Cybertronian has just crash landed and is heading for the Witwicky residence!- the frantic voice of Bumblebee rang loud and clear over the phone.

Will looked to his wife with a new, serious look on his face and replied into the phone, "I'll be right there!"

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"All finished. Everything looks good for the both of you. If all the Autobots arrive with as minor damage as a misaligned communications sensor relay, then it'll be the least amount of work for me," Ratchet commented.

The other three Autobots that were in the med bay chuckled slightly at Ratchet's comment. It had been a quick exam for both of the newcomers, and the noise level had gone down… That was until the medical bay doors burst open, startling the four who were already in the bay.

"Ratch!" Jazz was the first one through the door, followed by Ironhide and two silver, unknown mechs, still in their original bipedal modes fresh out of their space travels.

As Jazz moved out of the way, everyone's optics went straight to the form of Cat, who was sitting up in the crook of Ironhide's arm.

"We had a little problem when these two arrived without warning," Ironhide explained as he gently set the girl on the examination table.

Cat still had her rider's jacket on, but she was covered in dirt. She held her right arm around her torso and flinched as she was set down.

"I tried telling them that I was fine…" Cat tried to play off her pain. She tried to smile but it ended up looking more like a cringe.

"What happened?" Optimus asked, looking over the girl along with Ratchet who was meticulously scanning her from head to toe.

"We were-" Jazz started before noticing a glare from Cat. Her, not very subtle, stare made him remember that they would probably get into a bit of trouble if the truth had been told… But he had never lied to Optimus before. Ratchet, oh sure, he'd given a better story to make an injury sound not as silly as it had been, but never Optimus.

"Sorry Cat… We were racin' in the desert, and nothing was goin' wrong until these two," he pointed to the silent silver mechs, "showed up outta nowhere. Cat didn't see 'em in time and was nearly flattened."

Ratchet stopped his scans for the moment and turned to Jazz, "Is there something wrong with your logic processor?"

Oh man, he knew he was going to hear it now.

"Of all the irresponsible things I would have expected from you, lieutenant-" the medic started before being interrupted by an emergency transmission from a far off comrade.

-This is an emergency alert! We have an unknown Cybertronian signature approaching to the Witwicky residence, and fast! I could use some help here!- Bumblebee's transmission went through to both Ratchet and Optimus, who looked to each other.

"An unrecognized Cybertronian signature? You don't think a Decepticon noticed all of these Autobots arriving and decided to cause trouble do you?" Ratchet asked.

-Hang on, Bumblebee! We're on our way!- Optimus replied to Bumblebee's plead for help.

"Men, we have a possible Decepticon in Tranquility, and we need to get there fast! We'll have to save disciplinary actions for later. Ratchet, you stay here with Catherine and these two-…" Optimus suddenly realized that he had no idea which two Autobots he was addressing, "Erm… Exactly who are you, if I may ask?"

"We dunno," Jazz answered, "Their speech processors are damaged."

"I see… Then they will stay here with Ratchet as well. The rest of you come with me!" The leader ordered.

Cat sat up painfully and yelled out, "Hey! Why am _I_ sticking around?! If there's a Decepticon in Tranquility, I want to be there for it!"

Ratchet turned back to the girl and growled, "_You_ are now admitted to the med bay, so you're not going anywhere. You have two of your human ribs broken, and something tells me that you were lucky not to have much more than that!"

Optimus smiled and added, "And as much as I appreciate your entheusiasm, we can't have you injured and out in the open as a target for the Decepticons. Autobots, roll out!"

"Yessir!" Jazz, Ironhide, Wheeljack and Bluestreak all followed Optimus out of the med bay.

Cat winced terribly as she was helped taking her rider's jacket off slowly, "It's not like this is the first time I've broken something!"

Ratchet frowned and sighed, "And I have a pretty good feeling that it won't be the last time either…"

For some reason, this comment caused the two, unknown newcomers to smirk madly. They both looked to Ratchet and Cat, looking as if they were enjoying the remarks being made. This caused Ratchet to turn to them and point to the other mech-sized exam table.

"You two may take a seat for the moment. I just need to ensure that she doesn't have any life threatening wounds that I didn't catch the first time," he turned back to the wiggling human, "Hold still, Catherine."

Cat sat back on her mechanical arm, putting her left arm around her aching rib cage. The two mechs took a seat on the exam table and watched on in interest.

"Those ribs are agitating your breathing. Too much movement and they might have punctured a lung. You're staying here overnight, no arguments," the medic sounded even more irritated after the second set of scan results.

"I live three floors up from here! It's not like it's the same kind of drive from here to Tranquility, it's a hop skip and a jump away! Besides, I heal three times faster than your average human." Cat weakly protested.

"I wish you would let me do my job instead of constantly undermining my advice," Ratchet furled his eye ridges and scowled.

"And I wish that _you'd_ remember how used to this crap I am," Cat spat back.

The Autobot gave her a quick smirk and said, "Then I suggest that you get _more_ used it."

Turning to the two newcomers, Ratchet noticed that they were laughing, only they were unable to make any noise. He opened a drawer of tools, grabbing at one, and walked over to them.

"It's no wonder why we couldn't make out your message to us if your speech processors have failed. But at least you were able to receive Optimus' transmission," he said as he began work on one of the silver mechs. While he was working, he couldn't help but feel as if he knew these two…

"There," a quick click, and the first one's speech processor was back online, "How's that?"

The Autobot's internal mechanisms whirred and garbled before finding the correct language to adapt into it's circuitry.

"Much better!" he grinned, "Thanks a lot, Hatchet!"

And then it hit him.

"Oh dear Primus…" Ratchet's optics widened.

Cat looked to the medic with a raised eyebrow, "Something the matter, Ratch?"

"Not you two… Of all the Autobots that could have gotten our message… Not you two…" he stood in shock.

"Ratchet?" Cat looked from him to the two on the table opposite from her. Was there a reason that she needed to be ready for a battle?

"Aw, come on Hatch! At least it's us, and not a couple of Decepticon seekers!" The mech smiled wildly.

"Who are they?" Cat asked.

Ratchet turned to the human girl and said, "Catherine… These two are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker… The only twins ever born on Cybertron… And the only two pit-born slags known for causing almost as much trouble as a Decepticon…"

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Bumblebee was still looking around the corner of the house. He would battle if it were necessary, but he was more or less hoping that it was a mere coincidence that the mech was headed towards the Witwicky residence.

"Sam, I suggest you and your parents flee," Bumblebee suggested.

Sam turned to look at the Camaro form of his friend and asked, "What?"

"Go get your parents and have them drive away from here, Samuel," this time the Autobot ordered.

"No! No way! I'm not just gonna take off on you like that! Forget it!" Sam rebutted.

"Sam, I have already informed Optimus of what's happening, and I have also called for William Lennox, who has informed the government of the situation. I would prefer that you get within a safe distance from here in the meantime and-" it was, however, too late.

The unknown signal approached within just feet from their location, as well as the rumbles of an engine in dire need of a good fix. Sam looked to the front of the house from the driveway and saw that a Mustang police cruiser had stopped in front of their house.

"Oh no…" Sam worried.

"Please, Sam… Go!" Bumblebee encouraged.

Sam was in shock. Was Barricade so malicious that he was going to try and kill Sam's family?

The cruiser turned down the Witwicky driveway, slowly approaching them. Bumblebee swung around the corner of the house and blocked entrance to the rear.

"Leave here, at once, Barricade!" Bumblebee shouted.

The police cruiser stopped in it's tracks, the engine revving uncomfortably. Sam hadn't moved an inch. He was determined to do what he needed to help his friend, even though he could have been squished like an insect if he had made the wrong move. The Mustang made several noises as though it were internally computing information.

"Bumblebee?" an unfamiliar voice queried.

Bumblebee wasn't sure why, but for some reason he, now, regretted calling in so many reinforcements.

"My memory chips go back to the day that Ironhide and myself recovered you when you were just a sparkling. Do you mean to repay me by mistaking me for _that_ piece of scrap metal?!" the cruiser's voice was almost monotonous except for when he indicated that he was not to be misconstrued as a Decepticon.

"Bee? That isn't Barricade is it?" Sam asked as he poked his head from around the corner of the house.

Sam could hear Bumblebee's weaponry power down as the mech chuckled.

"Sam, I'd like you to meet Prowl."

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Chapter Teaser!

"Pit-born slag?" Cat was confused. She had heard Ironhide use Cybertronian curse words, but she had never heard "pit-born" used before.

"I hope that's your way of saying "Glad to see you two alive and well!" Doc…" the silver mech that could talk crossed his arms.

Ratchet looked to Cat, then back to the two smiling mechs sitting in front of him and sighed, "Something tells me that my workload just got a lot heavier…"


	7. Retrieval

Hey all! Sorry, I meant to update over the weekend, but some health concerns in the family kept me busy. That and I've had this awful migrane from a cold, and if any of you have had migranes, you know that staring at a bright computer screen doesn't exactly help it any lol. Anyway, thank you all so so so very much for the reviews! Luv em! Anywho, here's the next update!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but I DO own Cat! Any pilfering of my character will result in me whining, bitching, and moaning about it... Which believe me when I say my own brother wouldn't wish that fate on his own worst enemy... So please no stealy stealy...

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"Pit-born slag?" Cat was confused. She had heard Ironhide use Cybertronian curse words, but she had never heard "pit-born" used before.

"I hope that's your way of saying "Glad to see you two alive and well!" Doc…" the silver mech that could talk crossed his arms.

Ratchet looked to Cat, then back to the two smiling mechs sitting in front of him and sighed, "Something tells me that my workload just got a lot heavier…"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Cat crossed her arms, carefully, over her torso as she raised an eyebrow at the medic.

Ratchet, seemingly regretfully, began working on the other mech, fixing his speech processor as well.

"Between you and these two, I doubt that I'll ever get a full night's recharge again…" he snorted.

Cat laughed before succumbing to a sharp pain in her ribs, but replied, "If you remember correctly, I've managed not to injure myself since Mission City… Until today of course…"

"That's most likely because you had Sam's creators looking after you as if you were their own. You had no room to do anything foolhardy. Something tells me that, now that you have more freedom, you will be causing more trouble for yourself. It only took two weeks for you to break something, so I can only wonder what will be next, Catherine," he laughed.

Another "click", and the second mech's speech processor was fixed.

"So which one of you is which?" Cat asked.

The first mech spoke up, "I'm Sideswipe, this is Sunstreaker… Did Hatchet just call you "Catherine"?"

"Yeah, that's me," she smiled and laid back on the table to relax a bit, "You can call me "Cat" for short."

Cat suddenly heard several "BOOMS" approach and her head shot up from the table as she saw two silver Autobots at either side of her.

"We've heard a lot about you!" "Sideswipe" spoke cheerfully.

"Did you really take Starscream's head off?!" Sunstreaker asked.

Ratchet had been putting his tools away, but when he heard this question his cranial unit spun around on his shoulders, practically, and his optics went straight to Cat.

Cat's smile faded. It was a bit of a sore subject still.

"I'm afraid you have me mistaken," she closed her eyes, "My sister, Five, was the one who did that. Not me…"

"But… Didn't you fuse with her? So technically, you're both her and yourself and you-" Sideswipe was cut off.

"That's enough, you two. Cat needs to rest, and the both of _you_ need to find an alternative form," Ratchet could see that the subject bothered Cat.

"Aw, but Hatch, we have so many things to-" Sunstreaker whined.

Ratchet scoffed, "I'm growing quite tired of hearing excuses today. Now do as I say, before I rewrite your programming!"

The twins grumbled but left the medical bay, leaving the room in a bit of silence. Ratchet looked over to Cat, who still had her eyes closed, but she was nowhere near a state of recharge.

"My apologies for them, Catherine. They didn't mean any harm by their questions, they just-"

"I know… And it's okay, I just… I'm still having trouble adjusting to everything… I dream every night about what it's going to take to live up to what I am… And what she was…" Cat barely whispered her reply.

And that's when Ratchet realized why Cat had been training. He gently leaned on the table, a soft look on his face.

"Look at me, Catherine," the girl's eyes opened and focused on the neon yellow mech, "The only thing that we are interested in is you living up to being yourself. Five may have been strong, physically, but you are the one that persevered. She was unable to keep her mental state balanced enough to overcome her hatred, and in the end it cost her, her life."

"I know… And if she had she'd still be here with us today…" Cat sighed.

"Yes, perhaps. But _you_ would not have," Ratchet explained, "If Five had not eventually realized her faults, and called to you, you would have died of your illness," he reminded.

"Right…" Cat gave him a fake smile.

While speaking with the girl, Ratchet had monitored her stress levels, and noticed that they were a bit high and would spike each time she would move. He, carefully, scooped her up into his hands and placed her on a human-sized bed.

"I'm going to have one of the human physicians give you some pain medications," Ratchet informed her.

"Where are _you_ going?" Cat asked.

"Those troublemakers are going to need some assistance in finding proper alternate forms, and I am the only other Autobot here to aid them in their search. I'll be checking in on you shortly," he replied.

Cat sighed and relaxed against the bed, in no mood to argue about her prolonged stay in the med bay, "All right…"

Ratchet smiled down at the girl and walked out. It wasn't more than a minute or so later that a human medic walked towards Cat, medication and a glass of water in hand.

The man looked over Cat and set the medicine and glass down on a cart next to the bed. He put a hand under her upper back and gave a gentle push up.

"Come on, you're going to need to sit up to take these," he ordered softly.

Cat complied and painfully sat herself up. The doctor handed her two pain pills, and she took them with ease. He, then, handed her two more pills and she looked at him confused.

"I was told to give you something else to aid your sleeping," he pressed.

Cat snorted, "I should have figured that he wanted a way to keep me here for a while without wondering if I'd leave before I was "supposed" to…" she took the pills, "who knows… Maybe I'll sleep for a few hours…"

Cat laid back down, the doctor leaving the room. She looked up to the tall ceiling, counting the tiles for about ten minutes before her eyes felt heavy, and her vision blurred. Even her left eye's computerized vision began to falter. And soon, she was resting.

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"Prowl?" Sam walked out from behind the house, approaching the two vehicles, "I thought that the new guys were supposed to meet the others out by the Dam?"

"I'm afraid my telemetry systems have failed me. However, Bumblebee's signature code was the first that I was able to pick up. So I configured a landing zone that would be the closest to him as possible. But I'm afraid that I might have caused a little uproar after landing…" Prowl explained.

"A little?!" Sam began, "You're on the news, everyone's worried that there's an invasion, the only thing that they _can't_ figure out at the moment is what it was that caused all this!"

"… My apologies. Had I known that the area that I was landing in was exceptionally populated, I would have chose differently," Prowl apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Prowl. Optimus will be able to fix all of-" and that's when Bumblebee realized something.

"Bee? What's up?" Sam asked, a bit concerned at his friends' silence.

"I forgot to call back Optimus to tell him that it wasn't a threat!" he initiated his communications link and was quite for a moment.

After a minute of silence, Bumblebee looked to Prowl and asked, "Can you make it out to the Hoover Dam on your own? Optimus is asking if you require someone to accompany you."

"Actually, I doubt that I will be going too much farther as I am now," Prowl replied.

"Why's that?" Bumblebee asked.

"I was in a bit of a rush to find an alternate form, and when I did, some of my systems locked up on me. One of those systems is part of my motor function capabilities, which is locking up the rear axle of this form… In fact I believe that I am stuck right where I am…" Prowl explained.

Another minute of silence before Bumblebee spoke up, "Optimus says that it will be a while before Ratchet can get out here. I guess he stayed behind at the Dam even after the others were on their way. However, Optimus, Jazz and Ironhide are on their way."

"Why'd Ratchet stay behind?" Sam wondered aloud.

"I guess there are two other Autobots who needed repair. That and Cat managed to injure herself to the point of being unable to battle," the Camaro replied.

"Cat? What happened to _her_?!" Sam asked.

"I haven't asked the details, but apparently she's fine for now, so Ratchet's on his way here," Bumblebee replied.

Prowl looked to Sam and asked, "You are the Samuel James Witwicky from Optimus's report?"

Sam looked up to Prowl through his thoughts and replied, "Uh, yeah. That's me."

"And this "Cat" that you speak of, is this one of the other humans from the report?" the Mustang asked.

Bumblebee replied this time, "That's her, all right," he smiled, even though facial expressions couldn't be seen in his alt form.

"Why do they stay so much farther away from the rest of you?" Prowl continued with his questions.

"The American government conditioned the laboratories at the Hoover Dam to sustain Autobot life. Optimus and the others set up a base there as the headquarters for the alliance between the government and Autobots. Cat stays there for the purposes of learning more from us, and for security purposes," Bumblebee explained.

"Security purposes?" Prowl wondered.

"Well, if you have received the complete report, then you already know that Cat had once been a "project" of the governments. She was, herself, a secret that required the highest level of quiet. No one knew of her, not even the presidents that resided power over this nation. The agencies responsible for her were disbanded, some of the humans responsible for her were either jailed for their actions, readmitted into other government programs, or promised to their silence. There are many security risks that go along with all of that knowledge," the Camaro explained.

"I see… Bumblebee… What is that noise I hear in the distance?" Prowl asked.

Sam could hear it too.

"It sounds like… It sounds like a whole fleet of helicopters. And sirens…" the teen looked around the skies, trying to pinpoint the noises of the helicopters. He then ran out to the front of the house, where his parents were exiting the front door, looking around as well.

"Ron, where is all of that noise coming from?" Judy asked, looking down the eastern part of the street and seeing both sides of the roads crawling with black Crown Victoria's and high-end SUV's. Their windows completely black with tint, not even the setting sun could pierce through the darkened glass.

"Hey Bee?… Who else did you forget to call back?" Sam turned back and asked his friend.

"…Frag…" was all the Camaro could respond with.

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Cat didn't know how it was that she had gotten there, but all she knew now was that it wasn't where she wanted to be. The world around her was dark. Pitch black, actually. The only thing that she was aware of was that her feet were touching the ground. She looked all around her, but neither her human eye, nor the special lenses in her left eye, could see beyond the darkness.

"Ratch?! Optimus?!… Anyone there?!… Jazz? Ironhide?!… What the _hell_ is going _on_ here?!" she walked, but couldn't tell if she was going anywhere.

Cat stopped dead in her tracks. She could feel a chill roll up her spine and spun around to look behind her.

"Who's there?! I _know_ you're there somewhere!" she growled.

"_Seven_" a voice whispered softly, making her gasp in shock. Cat could feel someone's hot breath on the back of her neck.

She spun around again, only to come face to face with the figure of an older man. His hair was streaked with black and gray, his face was stern. The man had small, brown eyes, crows feet off to the sides of them, with dark bags underneath. His mouth was curved into a small frown. He was wearing a black suit, with a black tie, his hands in his pockets.

Cat backed up several feet from this man and stood in a defensive position yelling, "Who the hell are you?!"

"You've gotten so big… I always worried as to whether or not we'd see you full grown, but here you are," he gave a frail smile.

Cat was caught off guard by this. She backed up further, her eyes dead centered on this person.

"What happened to you to make you have a feature of Eight?" he asked.

"Are… Are you from the government?" Cat asked.

"I suppose you could say that…" he walked towards Cat.

She tried to back up, but the dark world seemed to shrink. Her back hit a wall, he was getting closer, which prompted Cat to growl, "I'm warning you now, I don't take kindly to random human strangers… Especially the ones that call me by my project name…"

The man stopped just a couple of feet away from her, "I would have expected this sort of behavior from Eight, but not from you, Seven," he tried to scold, "Did something happen after you escaped to make this change in you?"

Cat was about to say something when she heard, what sounded to be, giggles of some sort. Like two, overgrown children laughing at something quietly. This caused the man to look around just as Cat was.

Suddenly the world around her began to glow brightly. A white light drowned everything in sight, including the strange figure, which caused Cat to put a hand over her eyes and flinch.

"I'll be watching you…" the man's voice was the last to be heard.

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Cat's vision blurred into perspective. She could feel herself regaining her motor functions as her arms and legs lethargically moved to her will. She could still hear the giggles and fits of laughter. She, immediately pushed her dream out of her mind.

Sitting up in bed, Cat could finally make out the figures in the distance of the med lab. The two, familiar figures of the silver twins were looking through the main screen at pictures of cars.

Cat groaned tiredly, the two Autobots turning to see what the noise was from across the room.

"It's about time!" one announced.

"Is it normal for humans to sleep for eleven "hours" like that?" the other chimed in.

"Eleven… hours?" Cat's mind was slowly catching up, "Wait… So it's-"

"If what Wheeljack has taught us about human elements of time, it's six o'clock on…" the first one turned to the other.

"I believe the term is "Monday morning"…" the other helped.

Cat looked around, "Wheeljack is back?"

"Yeah, it turned out that there _was_ no Decepticon attack. It was just another Autobot. But, apparently he was unable to move so the Hatchet went to fix him, and Jack and Blue came back to the base since there was no emergency. Jack's been helping the humans in looking after you and told us to stay… quiet… so we wouldn't…" the first mech looked to the other.

"Wake you…" the other finished.

Cat chuckled, "If I've been asleep for eleven hours, then it was about time for me to get up anyway."

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Cat touched her feet to the ground easily. She could feel less pain in her sore ribs. -They must already be healing- she cracked a smile out of the corners of her mouth.

-I tried telling them that I was all right… But noooo… They plucked me off of my bike, left it there in the desert and brought me back… here… OH CRAP!- Cat's thoughts suddenly remembered that her motorcycle was still hidden in the middle of the desert.

To the two mech's surprise, the girl suddenly shot out of the med bay, looking frantic.

"Where's she going?" Sideswipe asked.

Sunstreaker turned back to the computer screen, looking over more pictures of vehicles, "Who knows? We're not human-sitters."

Sideswipe shrugged and also turned back to the computer screen.

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-Previous night in Tranquility-

After having a long conversation with Captain Lennox, Bumblebee and Sam were able to have their friend call off the government reinforcements. Ron And Judy were able to fend off the neighbor's prying eyes as they explained that there was a short in their alarm system on the house which prompted calling the police and fire units. Lennox, however, stayed behind to catch up with the group after not having seen them in a couple of months.

"I really do apologize for not informing you sooner, Captain," Bumblebee couldn't have been any more apologetic.

"Call me Will. And it's all right Bee. Better safe than sorry anyway. If you hadn't contacted me, and it turned out to be a Decepticon, things might have gotten ugly, and people might have gotten hurt. I'd much rather be called to a false alarm, than find out that help would come too late," Will replied with a smile.

"Yes, I agree… Will," It calmed Bumblebee a little knowing that if Lennox saw it that way, then hopefully Optimus would as well.

Thinking of the Autobot leader seemed to prompt the arrival to the residence. Sam could hear the loud diesel engine purr, along with the squealing of three sets of brakes.

"I'll go meet them," Sam volunteered as he dashed to the front of the house and crept up to the brightly painted Peterbilt, "You guys should go through the back alley of the house, the whole neighborhood is on alert since the little visit from the government."

An affirmative came from Optimus as his engine rumbled to life, the GMC Topkick and Pontiac Solstice following in suit. Not more than a minute later, Sam had the gates to the alley opened up so that the three could stroll into the backyard without having to transform and show themselves.

"I thought Ratchet was coming with you guys?" Sam asked, noticing the unaccounted mech.

"He'll be here shortly. He stayed behind to look after two of our newest arrivals, and to look after Catherine, but he wasn't far from us after we sent Wheeljack and Bluestreak back to the base," Optimus replied.

As he spoke, the familiar sound of a small moped closed in on the driveway from behind Prowl. Mikaela pulled up, a worried look appeared on her face as she was a few feet away from the mustang. Sam was smiling at her arrival until he suddenly realized that she had no idea what was going on at the moment. He rushed towards her as she slowly took a few steps back, having dismounted from her moped.

"Is… Is that who I think it is?" she asked, her blue eyes wide in fear.

"It's all right, it's all right!" Sam caught up to her and put a comforting arm around her back, looking back to the mustang, "He's not who you think he is. This is Prowl, another Autobot."

Mikaela looked to Sam in disbelief, "Why does he look like-"

"Barricade, yes, so I've heard…" Prowl finished her sentence in a grumble.

Optimus drove further into the yard, approaching closer, "It's very good to see you, Prowl. I'm glad you managed to receive my message."

"Yes, I was only relieved to know that there was still a Prime in existence… I was starting to think that Autobots were more rare than I previously believed," Prowl replied grimly.

"Yes, there for a while we were starting to wonder ourselves. But we've been very lucky to have so many recruits join us already. Hopefully, more will be arriving over time," the leader agreed.

"Hey Optimus," Sam began as he and Mikaela trekked over towards the three mechs, "Bumblebee mentioned that something happened to Cat, is she all right?"

Ironhide and Jazz seemed to recoil a little, but Will and Mikaela suddenly perked up at this question.

"Something happened to Cat?" Mikaela asked.

"It wuz jes an accident…" Jazz responded.

Optimus chuckled a little and answered, "Yes, she's fine. She was involved in a minor accident on her motorcycle."

"I hardly consider it _minor_," the familiar mutterings of a cranky medic could be heard in the back alleyway as a neon yellow hummer ambulance pulled through the open gate.

"Hey Ratch," Sam smiled warmly.

"Good evening Sam, Mikaela. Ah, Captain Lennox, it's good to see you as well," Ratchet commented.

"Please, call me Will," Lennox chuckled.

"My apologies, Will. As I was saying, a human breaking any part of their internal structure is hardly considered minor," the medic continued.

"She broke something?!" Mikaela asked, a bit shocked.

"Yes, she broke two of the ribs that are part of her human components. They will heal quickly because of her advanced healing abilities, but it's still worrisome," Ratchet replied gruffly.

"Hrm? Why's that?" Ironhide was confused.

The hummer sighed, "It's worrisome because with human anatomy, even a small scratch could erupt into infection, which could be deadly."

Sam, Mikaela and Will all laughed a little in relief.

"Ratch, all humans take that risk with even a little scratch. It's hardly worried about anymore as long as any wounds are cleaned right," Sam explained, "You're just being overly critical."

"Perhaps an average human would not think twice about it, but Catherine is not your average human. There is an increased chance that even a common human illness could kill her."

"But, "Will questioned, "I thought that after fusing with that other girl, her immune system would stave off things like infections and illnesses?"

"The problem with that, is that fusing with Five may have healed her from the sickness that nearly killed her, but she still has her original genes. If her immune system fails over one, single infection, it could kill her," the medic explained.

"Yeah, but… We don't know that her new immune system _would_ fail. She could be completely healthy for the rest of a long life," Sam rebutted.

"But we wouldn't know that it _wouldn't_ fail either," Ratchet grumbled, "There is little that we know of, at this time, about Catherine's immune system. The only thing guaranteed is that there is a fifty percent chance that an infection could be nothing… And there is a fifty percent chance that she wouldn't survive something as small as a paper cut."

The entire backyard went silent for a moment before there was small revving from Prowl's engine, causing everyone to look back to him.

"My apologies for breaking the silence, but I do not wish to be stuck here for too long," the mustang's flat tone didn't sound even remotely irritated.

The others were about to transform when Will stopped them, "Whoa, whoa! You might want to wait until the early hours of the morning to do that. This neighborhood is still on alert, and we should wait to be sure that everyone is asleep before you guys show your true forms and scare everyone."

"Agreed. We will wait a while longer before Ratchet repairs Prowl, and early tomorrow morning we will make our way back to the base," Optimus laid out the plan.

-End Previous Night's Flashback-

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It was about six-thirty in the morning, and Wheeljack was finished looking around the Autobot laboratory that had been set up for their engineering needs. He had thought about going to check out this basement facility, when the thought of checking up on Cat had crossed his mind.

Walking into the medical bay, the engineer looked to the small human bed and saw that it was vacant. Looking around the bay, Jack caught a glimpse of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, still looking through pictures of sports cars.

"Did either of you two see where Catherine went off to?" he asked.

Without even turning to him, one of the twins answered, "We don't know where she went, but she seemed like she was in an awful big hurry to get there."

The engineer frowned behind his faceplate, his sky blue optics glaring at the two younger mechs.

"I wish you would have informed me about it. Ratchet gave me specific orders to keep an optic on the kid… He'll probably blow a gasket if he finds out that I've misplaced her," he shuddered.

Just then, Bluestreak walked by the med bay as Wheeljack turned to leave in order to look for Cat.

"Morning Jack!" a cheerful smile from the gunner.

"Bluestreak, you haven't seen Catherine around have you?" the engineer hoped that he had.

"Actually, I have! Just a little while ago I saw her running down the hall towards the hangers. I asked her where she was off to and she mentioned something about someone leaving her motorcycle out in the desert and that she had to go and get. She said that she would be back soon, but that's all I heard, really," he rambled.

Wheeljack mentally cursed himself. Oh yeah, Ratchet was going to have a fit about this… The engineered sighed. Not even a full daily cycle on Earth, and he was already getting into trouble…

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The place where they had left her bike was less than two miles from the dam, so Cat decided to hoof it. She'd just ride the bike back, and not worry about having to walk any farther than she'd have to. The thought of asking either Jack or Blue to take her out there had crossed her mind, but she felt as if she could do this under her own strength, so she didn't bother them. She took a small backpack with a couple bottles of water and wore a plain, white baseball cap to divert the sun from absorbing it's warm rays into her dark hair, which would cause her to overheat.

Cat had almost made it out to the horseshoe of rock and canyon when a sandstorm began to develop. She took refuge under a small rock formation to wait out the storm.

"Great… These things could last for hours… If I don't make it back before the others do, I'll catch it from Ratchet and Optimus for sure…" Cat sighed and sat back against the rock "cave", sipping on a cold bottle of water.

Lucky enough for Cat, the sandstorm began to falter, the intense winds dying down just a bit. Cat was staring off into space when she noticed a small glimmer of light in the far distance. Her mind zeroed in on the object, and her left eye zoomed in on the shimmering light. She scanned the surrounding area before seeing what was reflecting the sun's early morning rays.

"The bike!" she yelled gleefully, "It's a lot closer than I thought it was! I hope it's not too messed up…"

After the winds died down so that the storm was hardly a threat any longer, Cat decided to brave what was left of the storm and make a run for the bike. She put the water back into the backpack and threw it over her shoulders. Putting her right arm up to block the winds that were kissing her right cheek, Cat managed to arrive to her motorcycle.

"I must have passed out for a few minutes… I don't remember putting all of these rocks and debris over it to cover it up…" Cat said to herself as she began to pull the small fragments and sheets of metal from over her prized possession.

As Cat worked, feverishly, to free the two-wheeler from it's burial, her left eye began picking up heat signatures. Her head perked up, looking around the tall ridges of rock that surrounded her.

-Probably a coyote or something…- Cat shrugged as she turned back to her bike.

Finally removing the last of the rock fragments, Cat knelt down and picked the bike up from it's laying position. Feeling her sore ribs protesting against the movement, Cat snaked her right arm around the opposite handlebar and yanked it upright. She sat the bike on it's kickstand and looked it over.

"Ah! Much better! A few scuffs, but nothing I can't buff out!" she grinned as she knelt back down to check it over.

Before Cat could realize it, her left eye began beeping with a severe warning, that several bio-signals were closing in on her and fast. She whirled around and noticed five men standing around her.

"Don't think so," a burly man stepped closer from the left, "We found it first! Ain't no desert _rat_ gonna take it out from under us!"

Cat was about to retaliate with a smart remark when she saw two of the men were holding small firearms in their possession. She sighed.

-Today's going to be longer than yesterday, I'm afraid…- she thought grimly.

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Chapter Teaser!

"I told ya we shoulda had one o' us stay behind! If we woulda waited for that guy to get here with his truck, it woulda been gone by the time we got back!" a skinnier man in flannel, blue jeans and a red hat spat at one of the others.

"Good thing we decided to turn back then, huh?" the man on the far right chimed in with a smirk.

"Go on then! Get on outta here and don't let us catch ya nearby til we leave with this, here, machine!" the man on the left waved an arm, motioning for Cat to leave, but she only crossed her arms, saying nothing in return.

"Don't think she got the point, Lou," the skinnier man in the middle gave a toothy grin, all five of the men taking a few steps closer.

"Pretty, young thing, ain't ya? It'd be a real shame if you got that face all messed up…" he continued.


	8. The Cats Bark?

Hey all! It's a bit long, but here's the newest chapter!

Thank you for all the reviews! Every little bit keeps these keyboard keys a clickin'!... Okay, so to be honest, I didn't know if I was supposed to reply to everyone independently, but I always make sure to thank you all on here, so don't be discouraged! .;

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but I DO own Cat (Project Seven).

Enjoy!

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"I told ya we shoulda had one o' us stay behind! If we woulda waited for that guy to get here with his truck, it woulda been gone by the time we got back!" a skinnier man in flannel, blue jeans and a red hat spat at one of the others.

"Good thing we decided to turn back then, huh?" the man on the far right chimed in with a smirk.

"Go on then! Get on outta here and don't let us catch ya nearby til we leave with this, here, machine!" the man on the left waved an arm, motioning for Cat to leave, but she only crossed her arms, saying nothing in return.

"Don't think she got the point, Lou," the skinnier man in the middle gave a toothy grin, all five of the men taking a few steps closer.

"Pretty, young thing, ain't ya? It'd be a real shame if you got that face all messed up…" he continued.

Silence and a glare was all they received. Cat despised _anyone_ who could be so bold as to assume they could have control over her. Especially humans. If it weren't for all of the encouragement that she had received from Sam, Mikaela, Sam's parents, and the Autobots, Cat would have killed any human in her way. Having fused with Five made it more difficult to control herself from doing so, but her mind was strong, and for now she would hold back.

"She ain't talkin'. Maybe she's a mute?" one of them smirked.

"You know what that means? Means she can't scream," they were getting closer little by little.

"Maybe that means she'd like to come and play with us?" the one on the far left suggested.

Cat gave a slight smirk. Her ideas of "playing" with these humans were a little different than what they were thinking of.

"Maybe that means she does!"

Cat's eyes gave an intense glare, "My apologies gentlemen, but as a rule of thumb, I don't hang around inbreeds."

The men's smiles faded into sour frowns immediately.

"That's a sharp tongue for such little thing like yourself," Cat could hear the hammer of the small revolver in one of the men's grasp cock into place. That's when she knew that the formalities were over with.

"I feel as if I must warn you. I'm not very fond of people, and have been known to be less than tolerant of certain antics. I'm in no mood to take mercy on anyone at the moment, so your best bet is to leave now," Cat knew that her words would fall on deaf ears. She mentally wished that there would be someone, in this world, smart enough to leave when she warned them to.

The men looked to one another, a round of laughter bursting from them. Cat rolled her eyes.

"I think she's serious!" one laughed.

"Wonder if she's serious about that yellow eye, she's got there. And that arm of hers looks like some sort o' toy! Wonder what she can do with it?" they all stepped forward to within a few feet of Cat.

That was it.

Cat dashed forward at the men who held the small revolvers, grabbing them both by the wrists that held the guns and twisted them until they snapped, breaking them. The men screeched in pain, jumping back to hold their broken appendages, the others forming around them, looking to the damage inflicted by the girl. Cat had grabbed the revolvers and brought it up to eye level, holding them flat in her mechanical hand to show the others what exactly she was doing. She, then, folded her fingers around the weapons and crushed them as if they were nothing more than tin cans.

The five men, who were about to try and retaliate against the girl, stared in shock, eyes wide, mouths agape. Cat dropped the shredded remains and smirked.

"Any questions?" she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of smugness for what she had just done.

"What the hell are you?!" one of them shouted.

Cat frowned at the question, never relenting on her narrowed eyes, "I'm not one of _you_, that's for sure…"

Before even really thinking through it, then other men attacked at the girl, pulling out their own small weapons. The only thing they really had against the girl were brass knuckles and small chains, but nonetheless, they attacked.

Cat dodged the attack from the first one who approached, grabbing his forearm and swinging him around. She quickly smashed her mechanical forearm into his elbow, breaking his arm at the joint. The man was thrown to the ground in obvious pain as he curled up into a fetal position, holding his arm.

Cat turned to the other men who were still coming at her. One of them swung around a chain, which was about two feet long, around at the girl. She dodged the swing and rushed at him, throwing a punch to the jaw with her left arm. She could feel the jaw bone crunch under her human knuckles. The man twisted around where he stood, falling to the ground, his eyes wide with shock.

Cat looked to see if the other two were still coming at her, but noticed that they had made a run for it, not looking back. She decided to give them a run for their money and chased after them.

The men had made it to an old beater truck and jumped in.

"Come on! Come on! Start it up!" the passenger yelled, cradling his broken, right wrist.

The other fumbled around with the keys anxiously, his hands shaking at the fear that he had just experienced.

Suddenly there was a loud "banging" noise as they felt the truck tremble. They looked to the bed of the rusty beater and saw that Cat had jumped in, strolling menacingly up to them, a feral look in her eyes.

"Going somewhere?!" she shouted.

The men screamed with intense fear. Cat punched through the back window with her right fist, grabbing the driver by his neck and squeezed, blocking his airway.

"How many?! Huh?! How many weaker humans suffered by your hands?! How many innocents have you tortured just to show that you had the upper hand over them?!" Cat shouted in a fit of rage.

The man that she had by the throat only grunted and choked in response.

"How does it feel to be on the other end of torture?! Are you scared?! Do you feel as helpless as those who you've wronged in the past?!" she pressed on.

Cat felt exhilarated. The rush of adrenaline was overwhelming, and she continued the torture. If these men were to be so brazen as to assume that they could take _her_ down, she could only imagine how many others have suffered by their hands. The idea of them taking advantage of someone with a lesser ability to defend themselves made her sick to her stomach.

"P-Please… Stop!" the skinnier man in the passenger seat pleaded in a trembling voice.

Cat continued, an evil smiled across her face.

"Please! Don't hurt us!" the passenger yelled again.

It wasn't the passenger's pleading that did it, but something in the back of Cat's mind shouted at her.

-STOP THIS!- her mind begged.

Cat stopped the strangulation and jumped back in shock. She looked to her right arm, which she could feel the nerves in the connections to it pulsing with intensity.

-What am I doing?- Cat asked herself.

The driver was coughing violently, the passenger just stared at the girl, unmoving. Cat looked up to them. She heard the scrambling of feet behind her and turned to the rear of the truck, seeing the other three men staggering towards the truck. She hopped out of the truck bed and backed away, the men staring at her.

"Go on! Get out of here before I do some _real_ damage! And don't ever talk about this to anyone!" she threatened. She just wanted them to leave her sight.

The other three men climbed into the back of the truck. The driver regained himself enough to find the ignition key and start it up, spinning his tires in the sand as he sped off. Before they left the scene completely, Cat noticed that one of them threw a brown, burlap sack from the bed of the truck.

Cat sat down in the sand, propping her elbows on her knees, and putting her head into her hands, staring at the ground in near shock.

-What was I doing?… This isn't me… I… I could have killed someone…- she was on the verge of a breakdown.

-I wanted them dead… But why?- her eyes widened as her question immediately turned into the answer - Five! This must have been the same feeling that she felt whenever she did those horrible things!… After so long of these feelings… Five turned into the monster that eventually took her over… And now it's happening to me…-

A small, inhuman whimper caught Cat's attention. She looked around until her gaze caught sight of the bag.

Cat sighed and thought -How cliché…- she heard another whimper and saw a lump in the bag shift around.

Cat got up and walked over to the bag, cautiously grabbing the tied off end. She untied the twine string and slowly opened the bag, looking into it.

"Oh man…" Cat said as she realized what it was that she was staring at… And what was staring back up at her.

----------------------------------------------------------

At around ten in the morning, the hanger doors to the dam opened, five familiar vehicles rolling in, and one unfamiliar following. Optimus was the first through the door, followed by Ratchet, Jazz, Ironhide, Prowl and the small truck that Will Lennox was driving. Once inside, the five transformers shifted into their bipedal modes, and Will found a place to park.

Getting out of his truck, Will looked around the base hanger and said, "It looks a little different than the last time I was here."

"Secretary Keller had it fitted to be able to support our normal modes around most areas of the Dam. It was nice not having to stay in our alternate forms all the time," Optimus replied.

Just then, Wheeljack, Bluestreak, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker walked into the bay. Will's face was shocked at seeing all the new mechs he'd have to get to know.

"Are you guys sure that this place is big enough to support all the new guys that we'll be seeing in the long run?" Will asked incredulously.

The group of Autobots chuckled, "Let's hope so, Will," Optimus answered.

"You four look like you're getting ready to go somewhere," Ratchet took notice of the other four mechs.

"The twins, here, found the alt forms that suited them, and we were about to go and find some that they could scan," Wheeljack replied, waving a hand to the silver mechs that stood behind him and Bluestreak.

"Hold on there a minute Jack… You didn't say what I _thought_ you just said did you?" Ironhide raised an optic ridge.

Ratchet smirked, "No, Ironhide, I'm afraid you heard correctly… These two are, in fact, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker…"

The twins grinned mischievously, "Good to see ya Hide!" Sunny said cheerfully.

"We've got _lots_ of catching up to do!" Sideswipe added.

"Primus… Just what we needed…" Ironhide waved his fists in the air and looked up as if damning their god for such a mistake.

"How's the other patient?" Ratchet asked.

Wheeljack shifted nervously at the question, "Well…" he sighed and slumped his shoulders, shaking his head, "I apologize Ratchet, I went to check in on her and she'd left before I could prevent it…"

Ratchet's face contorted into that of an annoyed mech, "I knew that I should have welded her to her recharge bed…" he sighed, "I should apologize as well Jack. I forgot to mention just how much of a skill it is to keep an optic on her. Excuse me, I'll need to get to the mainframe and check on her whereabouts so I can-"

Just as Ratchet was about to leave when the hanger doors opened once more. Everyone turned to see what was going on, when the revving of a small, motorcycle engine filled the hanger with it's noise. Before the door had gone up all the way, the black cycle's motor purred as it pulled into the bay and slowly approached it's normal parking spot. The familiar rider had been wearing her helmet, but no jacket. Her backpack looked filled to the brim.

Cat parked her bike and set the kickstand, pulling her helmet off. Her face and body were completely covered in dirt and sand. Even her dark, brunette hair was full of the grainy particles. She sighed and looked up to the mechs in front of her, "Hey guys…"

Will's eyes immediately went to the motorcycle in front of him and he practically pounced on the girl.

"Sweet! Where'd you get it?! A Busa?! This is the fastest one out there! I wish I could get one, but the wife won't let me…" Will was like a kid in a candy store.

Cat couldn't help but smile, "Hey Will…"

Will smiled and patted the girl on the shoulder, "It's good to see you!"

"Yeah… Good to see you too…" she was rather quiet for her normal tendencies. Even Will, who hardly ever saw her, noticed.

"You okay?" Lennox asked.

"Hmm?" Cat looked up at him and up at the mechs in front of her. She hated that "concerned" look that she'd see every now and then.

"Fine… Just fine… I guess I'm still just a little worn out from the meds," she dismounted from her bike.

"Why would you leave on your own, knowing that you're not well enough to?" Ratchet crossed his arms, ready to hear her normal excuses.

"Sorry…" Cat didn't even look at the medic.

Surprise caught the four mechs who knew the girl the best.

"That's it!" Ratchet started, "It's back to the med bay with you! It's obvious that something's wrong with you!" he pointed the way to the medical bay.

Cat sighed and obliged, beginning her trek to the bay area. Everyone watched as she left the hanger. The tense silence was almost deafening.

"That wuz odd," Jazz commented.

"Yeah, I was expecting a big fuss from the kid," Ironhide agreed.

"Well I highly doubt that the medications would cause this reaction, so something must be bothering her," Ratchet theorized.

"Well," Will exhaled deeply and put his hands in his pockets, "I know that when I broke my ribs, a long time ago, it was harder to breathe, let alone try and talk too much or argue. Maybe she's just not feeling up to trying to explain herself."

"She was arguing just fine yesterday. So I'm having trouble believing that," Ratchet followed the girl to the bay.

Wheeljack looked to Optimus, "Should I help Ratchet with the kid?"

Optimus shook his cranial unit, "I'm sure she's fine. You and Bluestreak help these two find their alternate forms."

Wheeljack and Bluestreak nodded.

"Come on, boys. Let's go find you something you can use," Wheeljack motioned for the twins to follow him and Bluestreak.

Wheeljack transformed into his alternate Ram form, and Bluestreak into his Viper form. The twins transformed into two small, green, army jeeps as their temporary forms. The hanger doors opened and they zoomed off into the desert.

Jazz and Ironhide were about to sneak out of the hanger and follow Ratchet to meet Cat in the med bay when they were stopped.

"And where are you two going off to?" Optimus crossed his arms.

"We were jes gonna go visit Cat," Jazz replied, looking a little sheepish as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I believe that there is still the small matter of a disciplinary action to be taken," the leader didn't look very amused.

"What'd _they_ do?" Will asked.

"They are part of the reason that Cat has been injured… Of course Cat won't be let off the hook for being involved as well, but while she's healing, you two will be my main focus," Optimus replied.

Ironhide sighed, "So what'll it be, Prime?" he felt like a sparkling being disciplined, as old as he was anyway.

"Prowl will most likely need to be filled in on all of the base's security systems, as well as he'll need the grand tour. I want him completely informed of every turn of hallway in the base, so do not miss any small detail," Optimus ordered.

"Yessir…" the two sighed.

-------------------------------------------------------------

In the meantime, Cat had made it to the med bay and only had to wait a few seconds before Ratchet walked in, a scowl on his face. Before she could say anything, the medic had picked her up by the top of her backpack and, almost roughly, placed her on the large mech-sized table.

"So… How was your trip to Tranquility?" Cat tried to play off the situation.

"Don't change the subject… You _must_ be ill if you agreed to come here of your own volition… What's the problem?" he put a hand to his hips and put the other hand on an adjacent table. Rapping his fingers against it in annoyance, he was waiting for an answer.

Cat sighed, "I'm not sick or hurt, but I came here because I wanted you to take a look at something…"

Ratchet raised an eye ridge in confusion, "And what would that be?"

Cat gently pulled her backpack off of her and set it on the table, kneeling down to unzip it. She pulled out the familiar burlap sack and reached inside of it, pulling out a small, black pup. It had some brown on each leg, under it's lower jaw and down part of it's neck, with little brown specks above each eye. The thing looked half dead as Cat cradled it's limp body in her arms. It was only a little bit bigger than the girl's hand.

"I think it's a Rottweiler puppy. I -uh… found it while I was getting my bike…" Cat looked to the dog, refusing to let Ratchet see her cold facial features.

"I know that you're still a little fuzzy on human medical practices even, but maybe you could tell what's wrong with this little guy," Cat laid the pup on the table.

Ratchet smirked, "You insult me, Catherine. I would have thought that you knew I have access to the world wide web wherever I may be."

Cat rolled her eyes at the term "world wide web". She always wondered why it was that they never just said "internet".

A few whirring noises and a quick scan of the pup later, Ratchet had finished his analysis of the creature.

"The animal is severely dehydrated and malnourished. And if what I'm reading is correct, dogs do not usually survive at this age without their mothers," he gave a grim report of his findings.

"Can't we do something for it? I'm sure we have the supplies to do the trick, don't we?" Cat looked sympathetically down to the motionless creature.

Just then, Will and Optimus walked through the med bay's double doors. Will looked up to the table and saw the look of worry on Cat's face.

"What's going on?" the Captain asked, looking back and forth from Cat to Ratchet.

Ratchet sighed, "Catherine has brought an animal into the base, and the poor creature is near death."

Optimus loomed over the table, looking at the small pup, "Where did you find it?"

"I… I found it on my way to get my bike… Do… Do you mind if I keep him?" Cat looked up to face Optimus. She felt like a child asking him this question, but she wanted clearance from the leader so there would be no arguments about it.

Optimus looked at the small dog, and then looked over to Ratchet, "Will it survive?"

"I'll have to see if one of the human medics can take care of it. It's much too small for me to try to work on it myself," the neon yellow medic walked into the office area of the medical bay to find a human doctor.

"What kind of dog is it?" Will asked.

"Rottweiler, I think," Cat cracked a small smiled while looking down at the pup. She watched it's breaths as it's small belly rose and fell quickly. She looked back up to Optimus and said, "You haven't answered my question…"

The Autobot leader had dealt with many things in his lifetime. But he considered himself lucky not to ever having dealt with a sparkling being cared for at any base that would bring in random creatures… That was until now.

"What is involved in caring for a creature like this?" he asked.

Cat shrugged, "I've never taken care of a dog before."

Will smiled warmly. Cat may have been an adult, but she was learning about adapting to her caring, human nature one day at a time, as if she were still a mere child. He almost couldn't wait for his own daughter to be old enough to bring home all the animals that he knew she would… Then again, he shuddered at the idea of his house turning into a smaller version of Noah's Ark…

"It's really very simple to take care of a dog, Optimus. All it needs is a bit of training, and to be kept up to date on it's shots," Will answered.

Optimus looked down to Cat, who was looking straight up at him, her dirt-smeared face giving him the "hopeful" look. Under the circumstances, he didn't find it unreasonable that the animal stuck around, so long as Cat was taking full responsibility for it's care.

"I suppose there's no reason why you can't keep it here, as long as it doesn't disturb anyone," the leader decided.

Cat smiled weakly and said, "Thanks! I'll keep him out of the way, I promise."

"That's if it survives the night," the voice of reason (Ratchet) approached with a human medic walking behind him.

Cat frowned at his statement, but carefully picked the animal up in her arms and walked to Ratchet's awaiting palm, so that she could be brought down to the ground level. The human medic looked over the dog carefully.

"Yeah, I think we can get it some fluids and see if that doesn't help it any," he gently took the animal from Cat and walked off to the smaller infirmary.

Cat was about to follow him when she was stopped after being grabbed by the back of her shirt. She looked behind her to see that she was being given "the look".

"What'd I do now?" she asked as Ratchet relented on his hold of her shirt.

"The animal can wait. Why are you so filthy?" the medic asked.

"I -uh.." she searched her mind for the "official" answer.

"Yeah, you kind of look like you've been rolling around in the dirt," Lennox added.

"I… I was stuck in a sandstorm on the way to get the bike. I couldn't find the proper shelter before I was covered in dirt and sand," she answered. It wasn't a lie, she really was caught in a sandstorm.

"I see," she turned at Optimus's voice, "Did you encounter any other problems while going on this little away mission?"

Cat knew that if she had looked just the slightest bit uneasy, any lie that came out of her mouth would immediately be dismissed. So her mind went to the quick, and easy answer.

"Nope… No problems except the storm."

A short silence befell the group before Ratchet sighed and said, "All right Catherine. I believe you would benefit from a good cleansing, as well as some extra rest. You may as well return to your own quarters. I'll let you know when and if the dog pulls through."

Cat looked suspiciously around at the other three and then replied, "Thanks," before cautiously leaving the med bay to head for her own room.

Will looked up to the two mechs and said, "Hey listen, I don't know too much about your kind and your training, but I've been Captain of a special ops team long enough to know when someone is-"

"Lying. Yes, the thought had crossed our CPU's as well," Optimus replied, "But unless Catherine wishes to tell us what's on her mind, we have no proof that she's done anything wrong. When she wants to tell us what the matter is, then she'll tell us."

"In the meantime," Ratchet started, "I think I'd like to get a look at this basement training facility myself."

Optimus nodded, "As do I. Would you like to accompany us, William?"

"Sure," the Captain followed the two mechs out of the med bay.

--------------------------------------------------------

Cat had quickly made her way back to her apartment, and the first order of business was a hot shower. She stood as still as a statue as she watched the sand swirl down the drain. Both of her hands were propped against the wall of the shower as her body leaned into them, her head sunk with her eyes boring holes into the floor of the shower. The near scalding water usually soothed her aching muscles, but her mind was too far elsewhere to allow her body to relax.

-I can't be turning into Five… I'm not anything like her…- she scolded herself.

Images of the burly man that she was choking, gasping for air, face turning red assaulted her mind. She couldn't get over the feeling of exhilaration. She couldn't believe how elated she felt as she was on the verge of killing a harmless human.

-No… No, I'm not Five! That guy deserved it! He would've killed me if I hadn't of set him straight!- She tried so hard to justify what she had done.

-What if I keep this up? What if I get mad at every stupid thing someone does?… Or worse yet… Will it still be safe for Sam and Mikaela to be around me?…- her eyes clenched shut tightly - No… I'm stronger than that…I'm stronger than that… I'm stronger than HER!-

Cat reeled back her right arm and punched into the wall of the shower in a fit of rage. She pulled back the mechanical arm slowly, surveying the damage. The white tiles were cracked, leaving a nice indentation in the wall.

Cat sighed, "Yet another thing to add to the list of 'things to fix'… Oh well, it'll keep me busy…"

------------------------------

A few minutes later, Cat had dressed into a pair o warm, fleece, blue pajamas that Mikaela had helped her pick out before leaving Tranquility. It was only near noon, but she figured that if the medic could help it, she wouldn't be leaving her room until he was satisfied that she was back to one hundred percent.

Cat sat down on her couch and grabbed the remote to her plasma screen television, turning it on and flipping through the channels absentmindedly. She found some random cartoons and decided to stick with it, grabbing the nearby pillows and sprawling out on the couch.

It wasn't long before Cat's mind, which was racing practically at a thousand miles per hour, began to slow down just long enough for the girl to fall into a light nap.

------------------------------------------

Will, Optimus and Ratchet had asked around as to which way this secret training facility could possibly be. However, there were very few who knew of it's existence. It had taken them a few minutes to upload the blueprints of the facility, but they finally had made their way down to it.

"Wow, it's so dark in here," Will commented, "Where's the light switch in this place?" his voice seemed to echo oddly enough.

"I imagine that the only one who used this area was Catherine, so I highly doubt that anyone else is down here. Therefore, there's no use is having it lit up all the time," Ratchet responded, using his night vision to quickly locate a large switch just a few feet away from the door.

Pulling the large lever of a switch up, the room suddenly sparked into bright lighting. Several sets of the overhead bulbs turning on, one at a time. Will's jaw nearly dropped to the ground as he took in what kind of room he was actually in.

The room, itself, was as large as a football stadium. The ceilings were tall, and floors were glossy gray concrete. The walls were brick, but they were painted white, although there were several spots along the walls that had indents, cracks, and slash marks. It was obvious what this room was used for, even if Cat hadn't told them, there was no doubt that there were many battles here.

Optimus looked around, trying to locate that machinery used for the holo matter projections. His gaze finally found a room located at the top of the eastern wall. It was tall enough for him to just break out the glass and reach in, but he didn't want to cause damage if he didn't have to.

"Will," the leader looked down to their human friend, "Would you mind finding the way up to that room, over there, and gathering the projectors for us? We would, but it's too small for us to fit into."

Will looked over to the room, and noticed that Optimus was right. It was only about the size of a movie projection booth, so there was no way a mech could squeeze in there.

"Yeah, sure," he smirked and walked to the other end of the large room, finding a metal door that opened easily.

Without knowing he was doing it, Ratchet growled a little under his vocalizer's normal tone. Optimus looked to the medic.

"What do you make of this place?" the leader asked.

"I almost couldn't fathom the idea of humans torturing children in a place such as this… But I suppose that Catherine is the proof all in herself… Disgusting…" Ratchet snarled.

Optimus nodded, "It's a shame that we could not do more to save the other six children… Cat was so very lucky to escape when she did."

"Yes, but as you saw, the distasteful torturing of training that she was put through has been etched into her mind. She believes that harming herself is the only way to be a more efficient fighter," the medic seethed.

"Well that's where we come in, old friend. We can teach her to overcome her old habits," Optimus assured the CMO.

"I'm not so sure. She's, as some of the humans say, as stubborn as a mule," the medic muttered.

"Yes, but so are we," Optimus replied with a slight chuckle.

It was only a minute before they saw that Lennox had found the right path up to the booth, and was looking around the small room carefully.

Will was looking around before noticing the large, overhead projector. It was very large, flat, and square. It was attached to the ceiling by several half inch diameter bolts, and the giant lens of the machine protruded from the glass of the booth. It was obvious that it was going to take effort by several people, so there was no way that he was just going to pull it off with his bare hands. He continued looking around the room, noticing five computer monitors, and two, large, server-looking computers to the right of the room. To the left of the room there were several shelves, completely full of old VHS tapes. He, suddenly, heard the loud reverberations of a familiar mech's voice from outside of the room. Looking up Will saw Optimus and Ratchet looking into the room, as if waiting for confirmation.

Looking back to the desks where the computer monitors were, Will noticed a microphone headset, and a small switch, which was in the 'off' position. He put the headset on and flipped the switch.

"Can you hear me?" Will asked, the overhead speaker system boomed through the stadium-sized room, getting a couple of nods out of the mechs.

"The projector needs special tools and handling to get it down, I'm afraid I can't do it alone," as he was talking he was looking over the shelving of tapes, one of which caught his eye for some reason.

"We'll probably have to have some of the human technicians take it down for us then," Ratchet commented, "Anything else of interest?"

Will could hear the mech's voices loud and clear, and decided that the intercom was a two way system. He took the tape from the top left shelf and looked it over. The title, which was written on the top of the tape, was "Project Seven's basic training".

"Yeah, I think there is something up here of interest…" he replied.

Looking around the room, Will saw a small television with a VCR player attachment. He stopped to consider what it was that he was about to watch, but continued with the task. Placing the tape in the VCR player and turning on the small television, Will watched the tape, and as he did, his eyes grew wide in shock and terror.

"Is something the matter, Will?" Optimus asked.

"Oh my god…" was the only reply.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Teaser!

-Seven..- Cat's eyes widened.

"No way…" she stood up straight and looked around.

-Seven… Come to me Seven…- It was definitely her… It was Five.

Cat didn't care how or why all of this was happening. All she cared about was that she would be reunited with her sister. And for some reason she didn't even need to ask questions. She knew _exactly_ where to go this time. 


	9. Looking past the past

Hey guys! Bet you thought I forgot about you all, huh? Well I'll tell ya, things are c-r-a-z-y!! And now on top of this full time work, with my part time work, I've decided to find a happy medium for a week and kick off to Vegas in May (squeals in excitement). Plus I'm planning on being alone there for a couple of days, so everyone pray that I find a penny slot machine that's out in the open and in plain view of the security desk... So I'm really only going to have time to work on my stories on the weekends, and you all know me, if I don't think it's story-worthy, it doesn't make it to post. So, I'm keeping up, but just a little at a time. Life can get sticky sometimes, ya know it? Also, I've realized that one of the changes that came with the updates to the fanfiction website, meant that some of the parts of my story have run together because there aren't anymore separation marks that I've placed in there... So I've found another way to fix it up. Anyway, here's my next post!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but I DO own Cat.

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Cat was confused. She was standing in, what seemed to be, Mission City on the day that Megatron was defeated, and Cat had fused with Five. There were people running down the streets in terror, but she couldn't hear anything. Not the screams from the helpless humans, not even the rumbles from the battles being played out before her.

"Weird…" Cat said to herself as she just stood in the middle of a street, watching the scene.

"How'd I get back here and…" Cat realized that there was something wrong with the feeling in her feet.

She pulled up a pant leg and saw that her legs were their original, steel form again.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she yelled in anger.

Suddenly her mind saw images that seemed oddly familiar to her.

-Seven..- Cat's eyes widened.

"No way…" she stood up straight and looked around.

-Seven… Come to me Seven…- It was definitely her… It was Five.

Cat didn't care how or why all of this was happening. All she cared about was that she would be reunited with her sister. And for some reason she didn't even need to ask questions. She knew _exactly_ where to go this time.

-I'm coming! Hang on!- Cat thought as she turned and saw the top of the grayish building from a block east of her.

Running as quickly as her mangled legs could carry her, Cat quickly made it to the building, and instead of trying to climb it, like she did the last time, she busted through the glass, front doors. Shards of glass flew everywhere as she landed on the inside of the doors and took off to the elevators. She pressed the "up" button and waited with extreme impatience.

"Come on, Come on! Let's go already!" she shouted, knowing full well that yelling wasn't going to do anything to help her out.

She watched as the electronic sign above the elevator flashed from twenty, to nineteen, to eighteen. It was a gut-wrenching feeling at having to wait.

A strange knocking sound suddenly broke the silence… It sounded as if… as if someone were knocking on a door… Cat looked around, trying to pinpoint the noise as it got louder and louder and-

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Three knocks at the door awoke Cat out of her dream. She sat up on the couch, listening to the knocks, but ignoring them for the moment. She quickly reached down and pulled the leggings of her pajama pants and saw that her legs were, indeed, human. She sighed with great relief.

The knocking at the door became more persistent, and even began to turn into poundings, as if someone were banging their fists against the door. Cat looked over to the entrance and was tempted to not answer it until she heard a familiar voice.

"Cat! Cat, open up! Cat!" Will yelled.

"Lennox?" Cat got up from the couch and rushed over to the door, "All right, all right, hang on! Don't blow a gasket!"

Cat went to the human-sized door and unlocked it, opening it. As soon as she did this a blur version of a human rushed in and suddenly crushed the girl in a tight… Was he hugging her?

"Umm," Cat's feet were barely touching the ground as she was pulled in close, "Something the matter?… Lennox, look… I like you and all but-"

Will stepped back away, but just couldn't bring himself to look into Cat's eyes, "No… It's just… I…"

"What is it?" Cat was more than confused, but her curiosity outweighed it for the moment.

She saw the legs of Optimus and Ratchet cross the path of the door as the garage door opened, allowing them to bow their heads and limbo under the smaller passageway and into the large apartment. Ratchet stood up completely, but poor Optimus was forced to lean a little in order not to destroy the tall ceiling. The living area was large enough for all five of the original Autobot group to be in at once, however any as large as Optimus were still a little cramped.

"What's going on guys?" Cat was beginning to get a bit agitated. Was something wrong? Did someone get hurt? A thousand scenarios went through her mind.

"We weren't sure what to make of what we saw…" Optimus started.

Cat looked from Optimus, to Ratchet, and to Lennox. Yep, there was that "concerned" look again.

"All right, what exactly is going on here?!" Cat crossed her arms, her left foot tapping the ground.

"Well we -uh… We were going through that basement room that you told the guys, here, about. And, I went up to that booth to look for the projector… and found these," he brought a VHS tape from behind his back.

Cat looked at the tape with a raised eyebrow look for a moment, wondering what exactly it was that he was trying to show her. It didn't take long for her mind to switch over from "wha?" mode to "duh" mode.

"Oh… Is that all this is about?" Cat almost cracked a smile as she looked to her three friends.

Will looked from the tape in his hand to the girl with a confused look, "What do you mean "is that all"?! These tapes shows the abuse that those creeps who locked you up did to you!"

Optimus and Ratchet looked to one another, then back to Cat and Will. Why was she not upset by this new information?

"Yeah, but… That was so long ago… Why are you so bothered by it now?" she asked.

Will was shocked, to say the least, "Well I… I saw how you were beaten up as a little kid, and it made me think of my own daughter… And all the disgusting ways I would have tortured and killed anyone who had harmed her in the ways that these people had harmed you…"

Cat took the tape, respectively, from the Captain and looked it over. The three visitors made strange looks on their faces when they noticed an odd smile that overtook Cat's face.

"…I stopped crying over these memories long, long ago…" She said simply.

Cat stopped looking at the tape and looked to the three.

"What is it that you want with the projectors anyway?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"In truth, I'd very much so like to dismantle it-…. Did you just say "projector(s)"? Ratchet realized.

"Well yeah. I thought I told you that there was more than one?" Cat asked, trying to think back on their conversation about the basement facility.

"No, you failed to mention that…" he replied.

"Well, there's four altogether. The others are incased in special compartments in the walls. They only reveal themselves when they're activated," Cat explained, "Here, why don't I show you how everything works down there and-"

"That won't be necessary, "Optimus was the first to cut her off, "Between the technicians here, as well as Ratchet and Wheeljack, I'm sure we can take care of the projectors without your aid. For now, until you're fully healed, you can stay in one of only two places."

"What places?" Cat raised an eyebrow of suspicion.

"Your quarters, or the med bay. Which do you choose?" the old mech snorted with laughter.

Cat shuddered. There was no contest as to where she would be staying.

"I'll stick with my own place, if you don't mind… But why can't I go anywhere? My ribs are practically healed now, you know," Cat crossed her arms.

"It's not so you can heal, it's part of a disciplinary punishment for being neglectful of proper safety precautions on your motorcycle," the leader crossed his arms as well, returning Cat's annoyed gesture.

"_Part_ of a punishment?" Cat was almost afraid to ask.

"You will also be banned from riding that contraption of yours for one week's time," Ratchet smirked.

Cat scoffed, "You've been wanting to say that ever since you've laid eyes on it…"

"Perhaps, but I agree with him when he expresses concern about specific incidents, like this one. You will stay, either here, or in the med bay until Ratchet gives me the clearance to your fully healed ribs," Optimus explained.

"Get some rest, Cat," Ratchet ordered.

Cat scowled, making the two mechs chuckle. They, then, left the apartment through the garage door, heading back towards the way they came.

"I'll meet up with you guys in a minute," Lennox yelled behind out the door, turning back around to meet the gaze of Cat.

"You look like you've got something to say…" Cat griped.

"Well I agree with them, if that's what you're expecting. As a superior ranking officer, it's my job to ensure my group's survival. And if that means punishment for doing something foolhardy, then that's what has to be done," he shrugged.

Cat rolled her eyes, "It's not like I'm an officer…"

"No, you're right. But even so, you're still learning how to really take care of yourself. It's expected that you act like a rebellious teenager so you should, in turn, expect to be punished like one," he smirked.

"I wasn't being neglectful! I know what I'm capable of doing on that bike! How was I supposed to know that I was heading right for a landing zone?!" she whined.

"You, of all people, should know that you're supposed to be aware of your surroundings at all times," Will scolded.

"I… I was focusing on something else…" Cat realized where this was going.

"Yeah, you were focusing on something that you shouldn't have been doing in the first place. When you're so tuned in on something like that, you lose all perspective on what's important. You're lucky you didn't -" Will was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah… I get it _Captain_… So, is that all you wanted?" she asked.

Will smiled, "No. I wanted to ask you something too."

"What's that?" Cat wondered.

"Optimus tells me that you've been using these projectors as aids to keep up on your self-defense?" he started.

"Yeah? So?" Cat wanted to know what Will was planning.

"Well, instead of beating the shit out of yourself with those harsh training programs, what if I made a recommendation to have some of the special ops training instructors train you more properly?" Will asked.

"…No…" Cat turned away and walked over to one of the windows.

"Why not?" Will was a bit surprised to her answer. He figured that she would be all over the idea of training companions.

"I can't train with average humans…" she turned to look at him, "No offense, of course. But at my lowered level of strength, as the project that I was, I could at least battle with the likes of Barricade… Now I'm only just above the strength of several humans… Don't you see?" she asked.

"That's why you were using the projectors in the first place, wasn't it?" Will realized, "You're above the strength of humans, but you're still not up to being able to battle a Decepticon?"

Cat nodded slowly, "Right… I could probably take on a whole army of humans. But when it really matters… When we're under attack by someone as strong as Starscream, I may be of no use…"

"But you're not just yourself, right? You've got part abilities of your sister, so you should be able to take Starscream's head off just like-"

"My body's not adapted to do that!" Cat growled.

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

Cat sighed and looked back out of the window, taking note of the rocky formations all around the outside, "Ratchet thought that I couldn't walk, after the fusion, because my muscles were so new to my transformation… But I should have regained that strength by now… I'm worried that I'll only be as weak as I am now… That, somehow, this new body wasn't put together by Five's fusion transmutation as it should have been…"

Will wasn't sure what to say or think. It wasn't as if the human race had ever dealt with the power of Alchemy like they had with the technology of medicine. Alchemy was so pure, that it was only taught in silence. It would have been a bad idea to have everyone be experienced with such a dangerous science. And because there was so little experience, there was no way to tell if something was done correctly, or incorrectly until everything was said and done.

Will walked over to Cat and looked outside along with her, "I don't know what to tell you, really… I've never known anyone in your position… But I think the Autobots, as well as Sam and Mikaela, would agree with me when I say that you're in no way _weak_. You're just going to have to wait it out and see what happens. You've still got a lot of things to live to see, and maybe you'll rediscover yourself in time, with them."

Cat smiled, "I hope you're right…"

Will watched the clouds move slowly across the blue sky for a minute before looking at his watch, "Well, it's getting late."

"Late?" Cat asked, "It's like, two in the afternoon."

"Yeah, but I want to help the guys with those projectors, to do whatever it is that they're wanting to do with them. Then I've got to get on home. Sarah's going to be expecting me back sooner or later."

Cat snickered, "Does she know about all this? The Autobots, and the government stuff?"

"I've tried to explain everything as best I could… But there for a while I think she was worried that I had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," he chuckled as he headed for the door, but stopped and turned around, "Let me know if you change your mind about that recommendation."

"Yeah… I'll think about it, "Cat replied and waved, "I'll see you later Lennox."

Cat heard the door close behind Will and sighed. She would have liked, nothing more, than to have a proper sparring program that would fit her specific needs. But she was certain that a human partner wouldn't suffice. It would actually be too dangerous for a human to spar with her. The fact of the matter was that if she were truly to open herself up, she could easily kill even a highly trained officer. So, really, the idea was out of the question.

Cat looked around her apartment with a sort of bored look on her face. The place seemed a bit dull at the moment, as there was no sound coming from anywhere within it. The signal on the satellite dish had turned itself off after there had been a long period of inactivity. Cat looked over to the kitchen area. Nope, not hungry. She looked to the phone, but knew that there was no point in it. At the very least Mikaela would be calling for her later. If not her, then Sam's parents would certainly want some answers. That is if the Autobots had told them what had happened with her the day before… Yeah, she'd definitely be getting a call…

Cat sighed again, crossing her arms and lowering her head in frustration. She had thought that being confined to her apartment would be less daunting than being confined to the med bay, but she was already wondering what to do with herself. She smiled a little, remembering that this is how things started out when she lived with the Witwicky's.

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-Flashback-

"Really, Cat, there's nothing I'd like more than to have someone else do _all_ of the work, but you're not supposed to be up and around so much!" Judy carefully guided the young fighter to the living room where she was hoping that Cat would take the hint and sit down to rest.

At this point Cat had only lived with the family for a few weeks She had already managed, with the aid of Sam and Mikaela as well as the rehab specialist that came out three times a week, to be rid of her walking aids completely. Although it didn't mean that her walking skills were back to one hundred percent. Her legs were still in a weakened state, and she wore down easily. At this point in time, Sam and Mikaela were out with Bumblebee, leaving Cat at home with Sam's parents.

"Are you sure? I mean, I've been sitting around here like a blob for all this time, I'm sure there's something I could do to help you out," Cat asked. Sam had warned her that being too generous would give his parents full reign over what they "needed" help with around the house. But she grew tired of being laid up all the time and being taken care of.

"Nonsense! We're doing this as a favor for you saving Sam! There's no reason for you to feel like you owe us anything!" Judy explained cheerfully.

Cat sat down in the darkening room and gave a gruff sigh, "If you insist…"

"I insist!" The older woman replied as she walked back into the kitchen to finish up cleaning after their dinner.

It was getting pretty dark outside, but of course, that didn't affect Cat. Her specialized lens in her left eye changed into it's night vision mode at her will and she quickly found the remote for the television next to the chair she was sitting in. She grabbed it off of the end table, but before she powered the television on-

"OUCH! Why are all the lights turned off in here?!" Ron stubbed his toe on the edge of the couch, across from where Cat sat.

Ron reached for a nearby lamp, which stood next to the couch. He turned the small knob to fire up the lamp, but nothing happened.

"Judy! I thought you said that you replaced the bulb in this thing?!" he yelled.

"I did! But I don't think that was the problem! I think it's time we just threw out that old thing and-" Judy yelled from the kitchen.

"No, no! Nothing doing! There's no point in throwing something away in this good of shape! I'm sure it can be fixed!" Ron replied, putting his foot down on the matter.

"Ronald, we've had that old thing since Sam was born! Besides, you don't know anything about fixing lamps! Just make it easy on yourself and go buy another one!" the woman scolded.

"You don't even know what the problem is! Maybe you didn't screw the bulb in all the way!," Ron replied with hint of sarcasm.

"….Fine! Spend your entire weekend fixing the thing yourself then! But when you give up on it, make sure it's before eight o'clock in the evening," Judy scoffed.

Ron and Cat both looked to the hallway that led to the kitchen, confused.

"Why eight?" Ron asked.

"Because, dear, that's when the Home Depot closes…" Judy stated.

Cat let out a snort of laughter, and Ron turned in her direction, having not known that she was there to begin with.

"…Sorry…" Cat stopped the laughing as soon as Ron had given her that "look".

"Didn't see you there, Cat…" he looked away for a moment but stopped, looking as if he had an idea. Looking back to Cat and squinting better to see her in the dark room, Ron asked, "Hey you're super smart. You think you can help me fix this lamp?"

Before Cat could answer, Judy's voice boomed through the hallways, "_Don't_ you dare involve that poor girl!"

"Ah, she's fine! Good to go, eh kiddo?" Ron coaxed Cat into joining him into trying to fix the lamp.

Cat was about to speak, once again, before there were several loud "booms" from down the hallway before Judy appeared, a frown on her face.

"You heard the rehab doctor! No physical exertion!" she bellowed.

"Judy, you've had her sitting around the house twenty-three hours of the day. Let the kid get up and around now and then, will you?" Ron argued.

"If we let her roam around too much, she'll exhaust herself, and that other big, scary, yellow thing will be around here more often! I'm surprised the neighbors haven't noticed that our backyard has turned into an interstellar lounge area, yet!"

"So what if the neighbors notice?! Who would believe them? Let them announce it on the six o'clock news, for all we care! They'd lock them up in the psych ward and throw away the key!" Ron rebutted.

At this point, Judy was about to throw a fit. She pointed a finger in her husbands face, but the darkness in the room was suddenly lifted. The lamp had turned on, seemingly by itself. Ron and Judy looked to Cat, who was now standing near the wall, dumbfounded.

"It was uh… It was unplugged," the girl smiled sheepishly.

-End Flashback-

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Cat smiled again. Her first experiences living with a _real_ family was, at first, challenging. However, the more she got to know them better, the more she could allow herself to enjoy her freedom. The Autobots were a big help too. Even when she would show her sister's side, they would be stubborn and stick to their guns, keeping her in line like a well behaved soldier.

Cat sighed. And now they were doing just that, once again. Keeping her in check, and punishing her for her bad behavior. She had a feeling that it wasn't going to be the last time that she would ever face disciplinary actions.

Absentmindedly, Cat looked over to the couch, and the small, black, square tape caught her eye. It seemed that Will had left it behind. The room was deathly quiet. Cat's gaze was fixated on the object. She, finally, got up and walked over to the couch, taking up the VHS tape in her hand. She looked over to her oversized television and saw that there was a DVD/VCR player attached. She looked back to the tape and regarded it for a moment before finally taking it and walking over to her television, Cat slowly inserted the tape into the player.

Going back over to the couch, Cat picked up the remote and turned towards the big screen. Her finger hovered above the "Play" button for a moment. She considered just letting it go, but she let her curiosity get the best of her. She hit "Play".

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"No!" a small, eight year-old version of Cat yelled, as she crossed her arms.

"Come now, Seven. You know better than to disobey a direct order," a voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

It was the basement facility that the Autobots had just visited. The room was bright, all lights shining down on the tot as she pursed her lips and turned her head so that she wasn't looking towards the booth.

"No!" she yelled again.

A sigh came over the loudspeaker, "All right, have it your way. Activating battle simulation."

The light's in the room dimmed, some shut off so that there were only five bright spotlights in the giant room. The little girl twirled around, sniffing out her surroundings for anything that might have been coming at her.

"I don't want to fight anymore!" the child yelled at the top of her lungs.

A shadow figure appeared behind the little girl and kicked her straight in her back, sending her about twenty feet away, sliding across the floor. She shivered in pain but got to her feet quickly, jumping several feet in the air before the figure could come at her once more. As she came down from her high jump, she reeled her legs back in ready for a quick kick, but a second figure came out of nowhere, punching her in the side, sending her into the wall with crushing force. The child's body slumped to the ground, unmoving at first.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Seven," the male voice warned over the loudspeaker.

The first shadowy figure appeared before the little girl as she stood and began sending several punches to her abdomen. Her back was repeatedly hitting the wall with each punch. Any normal man or woman would already have been close to death under these circumstances, however the small child finally broke free of the assault and brought her metal, right arm up, knocking the shadow figure back with hard punch.

The second shadow figure ran up to Cat with the speed and precision of a well-trained ninja. Cat was able turn in time and deflect each and every kick and punch that was sent to her by the figure. Although, she was being backed into a corner, because the figure was still a little more than too much for her to handle on her own. Among the barrage of punches and kicks, the small version of Cat saw a quick opening and took it. She ducked one of the punches and moved in with a kick to the thing's abdominal area, sending it back a few feet. The girl didn't take the chance of having another wave of attacks by the figure, and she followed it as it stumbled backwards.

The little girl clapped her hands and ran her left hand over her right arm, turning it into it's blade form. She neared the figure and swiped her arm from left to right, right through it. The image dissipated as she had "killed" it in the battle mode.

The child stopped her battling to catch her breath and smiled. She had done it! She proudly waved her right arm, still in blade form, through the air.

"Okay, I beat it! Now let me out!" she screamed.

But the smaller version of Cat had forgotten about her first opponent. The shadow creature crept up behind her, unveiling it's own long blade form. The child's eyes went wide as she realized that her training wasn't actually complete. Before she could turn around, the shadow thrust it's blade, and drove it into the child's back, through her left shoulder.

"Ngnn…" Cat whimpered as the figure held her still with it's blade through her body. She shook, her body racked with pain.

The darkness in the room lifted and the shadow figure disappeared, leaving the smaller version of Cat to hit the ground, blood pooling around her.

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Cat shut off the screen and looked away from the television. Yeah, she remembered that day… She had started to shown disobedience and was punished severely. It had taken her days to get over those injuries. She was only lucky that she healed faster than normal humans.

Even though she had just witnessed one of her, not-so-great, moments in life, Cat felt no anger or sadness. She had lived that life for so long that she had come to be less than sensitive to it all. She guessed that it was the reason why the three who had just visited her looked so surprised at her emotionless face.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel anymore…"

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Chapter Teaser!

Cat decides to take a trip to the med bay to check up on something, while the Autobots gather back together. But something isn't right, and Cat's dreams begin to catch up with her. A familiar glow suddenly overtakes the Hoover Dam, and it really shakes things up. But it's not the same as it was before, and the Autobots are put at great risk. What happened to cause this?


	10. Shockwave, Life and Death

Hey guys! Well here it is! Another chapter update might be a bit of a ways off, I'm going to be so busy. Things are going to get a bit hectic for me until May. I'm not saying that it'll be that long until the next chapter, but it's just a possibility.

Anyway, I wanted to give a little thanks to those of you who have reviewed so far. Here's hoping that you all keep reviewing in the future!

**LadyKatana4544, Fennecfox03, AccessBlade, ElitaOne, OakTreeWoman, ninja-pirate-alchemist, FORD B, Nyghtshade, GrimlockX4**

Really guys, thank you!

And before I forget, I also have another story up that kind of goes along with this one. Well it's kind of the " in between" story from the original Project Seven to the Soul Recon series. It's called **Project Seven: Living with the Witwicky's**. So check it out!

Anywho, here's my next chapter!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but I DO own Cat and Five. They are mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine... mine mine mine... mine...

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"Hey guys, wait up!" Lennox yelled from down the hall.

Optimus and Ratchet were on their way to the med bay to wait for the others to gather back up so they could all examine the basement facility properly. Will was on his way back down to the basement before the two mechs caught his eye on the way, and he caught up to them. Ratchet and Optimus turned at the sound of Will's voice.

"Were you able to get anything out of her?" Ratchet asked sarcastically. He wasn't really expecting to hear what he wanted to hear, but it was always worth asking.

"No, she's holding back on me. Maybe she'll tell Sam or Mikaela and you can get it out of them later," Will smiled, "However, I did discover something else."

"And what would that be?" Optimus asked, curious.

Will sighed and looked up to his two friends, "I think maybe… you should let her train with those projectors…"

"You're not serious…" the medic looked on in shock, "Just a few moments ago, you agreed with us! What, in the pit, made you change your mind?"

"Well, I _did_ talk with her. I offered her a recommendation to train with special ops training officers, and she turned it down. When I asked her why, she told me that the reason why she was using the projectors in the first place was that she's beyond the strength of a well trained human. She thinks that she needs to be up to a certain amount of strength… She's really the ultimate fighter in some ways…" he said softly.

Ratchet scoffed, "I should have seen _this_ coming…"

"Why's that?" Optimus asked.

"She expressed that concern to me yesterday as well. I told her that we weren't waiting for her to become as strong as Five, but I had a feeling that she didn't see it the same way," the neon yellow mech's azure optics flickered in annoyance.

"Well, maybe she was programming them at too high of a level? We could always just see what the settings are like, and try changing them to safer levels," Will suggested, "She just doesn't want to feel useless if a Decepticon attacks. I can understand that."

Ratchet and Optimus looked to each other.

"I'd still rather dismantle it…" the medic muttered.

"I suppose we'll have to really look the projectors over to see if there really is a safe way for them to be used…" Optimus thought aloud.

"I think she'd really appreciate it," Lennox added.

"Appreciate what?" Jazz's calm voice questioned from down the hallway.

Will turned and saw Jazz, Ironhide and Prowl walking towards them.

"I was just telling these guys that I think Cat would like it if she were allowed to train with those projectors," Will explained.

"Is that wise?" Prowl looked to the leader and medic, "Jazz and Ironhide were explaining to me about why you were banning her from doing so."

"Will suggested the idea that we check to see if the system has features that would ensure Cat's safety. If so, then we could allow her to begin training again," Optimus explained.

"Well then, let's have a look at this facility," Prowl suggested.

"We may as well. It's the only place that we haven't been besides Cat's quarters, on this little tour," Ironhide mentioned.

"Well I would have preferred that we had Wheeljack here, but I suppose we can always call for him once he and the others return," Ratchet decided.

"Works for me," Lennox added, "I'd rather get a better look at all of this before getting back home, and I'd like to do that as soon as possible."

"You jes got here," Jazz queried," Why ya wanna leave so soon?"

"There's a couple people I'd like to get back to and appreciate," he smiled warmly.

"Well, let's see what we can do for now," Ratchet decided.

--

Back in the basement facility, Will was back in the observation booth, trying to figure out what computer system turned on which projector, while the others were scanning the room.

"I hate to say it, guys. But I think we should ask Cat for help…" Will announced over the intercom.

Before anyone could answer, Prowl looked up towards the booth and said, "Allow me."

Will looked from the mechs back to the computer screen and saw that it was working itself, flying through all of the program screens until it came upon an encrypted program. The password access warped from one character to the next as the code filled itself in. The screen flashed "Access Granted", and the three hidden projector boxes turned outwards from the wall, revealing themselves and activating. Will's wide eyes looked back to the screen where four different windows flashed "System ready", apparently waiting for their orders.

Will looked up over the computer screen at the mechs and asked, "Wait… Why didn't you two do that before?"

"We're not quite as _gifted_ with wireless communication sensors as some are," Ratchet smirked.

"Well, he got the projectors up and running. Now all we need is the command codes to-" Will began to speak before he felt the ground shift under him.

The computer monitors on the table wiggled and shook, and Will quickly grabbed onto a nearby computer desk and held his ground as he practically waltzed over to the nearby doorway. He couldn't see the five mechs from where he was, but he was sure that they would hold up well during an earthquake… But something wasn't right…

Suddenly, a burst of blue light washed through the room, reaching Lennox quickly and overtaking everything around him. His heart was beating in his chest like a drum as a strange sensation tingled throughout his body.

"What's happening?!" Will yelled as he watched the ceiling lights burn out, and the computer monitors flicker on and off.

There was no reply from the mechs through his headset. The only thing he could hear was static and high-pitched screeching noises. He threw the headset on the ground and held on even tighter to the door frame, hoping that whatever this was would end soon. The bullet-proof glass that connected the booth to the training room cracked. It started as a small crack but quickly grew and eventually the whole window shattered, shards of the material flew to the ground.

Will got his wish when the blue light faded as suddenly as it appeared, and the ground stopped shaking. The flickering lights had shut off completely, as it took a few seconds for the few, small emergency lights to turn on. Will waited for a few second to make sure that there weren't going to be any aftershocks too soon after. He slowly made his way over to the shattered window.

"Guys? Everyone okay?" Will asked, worried that he hadn't received a response, "Optimus?! Ironhide?!"

Lennox made it to the window and looked down onto the floor of the training room, his eyes widened as he was taken back in shock.

There, on the ground, laid all five of the mechs. Their optics offline, the normal revving of their electrical systems silent. They, eerily, laid deathly still.

"Guys!" Will yelled, still getting no response.

This was definitely not a good sign…

--

-Ding-

Cat gasped as she turned towards the noise, not knowing what to expect, standing in a defensive position. The doors to the elevator that she had called for flew open, waiting for her to enter.

"But… That was just a dream, wasn't it? Why am I having the same dream?" she turned to looked out of the glass doors of the ground floor of the building. People were still running as if they were all in slow motion, screaming, but no sound coming out of their mouths.

"Weird…" Cat commented as she watched the scene outside.

Hearing the doors to the elevator begin to close, Cat decided that she was going to continue with her original mission to find Five. She quickly turned back around and held the doors open, stepping inside before they closed all the way. Cat pressed the button for the very top floor, remembering that from there, there was an exit to the rooftop.

Cat rode the elevator to the top floor, having no incidents on the way up. The doors to the elevator "dinged" as they flew open, Cat bolting from the small, box-like room and down the hall, finding the small set of stairs that led up to the roof. She crashed through the heavy, emergency door and tore out onto the rooftop. Taking in the sights in front of her, Cat instantly remembered where she found Five before. She ran to the opposite side and rounded on the tool shed finding-

Nothing.

"Five?" Cat called out, wondering what she had done wrong. This was where she had found her before wasn't it?

"NO!" Cat jumped when she heard Optimus' voice yell.

She ran over to the edge of the building and looked down, seeing the image of Sam using the Allspark to bring down Megatron. The giant, silver beast was brought down to the ground, his crimson optics fading. Sam and Optimus both approached the still form of Megatron slowly, seemingly unsure of what to think.

Cat watched the two carefully, before hearing a small "ping" on the ground next to her. She looked down to the little piece of smoking hot metal, blue sparks emitting from it every few seconds.

"What the…?" Cat questioned. She didn't know why, but she wanted to pick it up.

She knelt down, and gently ran her left hand's fingers over the object, feeling it's warmth. She, then, placed her fingers around the small, marble-sized piece of black metal and picked it up, holding it in the palm of her hand in front of her face.

"Why do I feel like… like I know this? Like I've done this before?" Cat asked herself, her mind racing.

"Don't you remember, Seven?" Five's voice had Cat turning on a dime where she stood.

Five was standing in front of Cat, looking just as healthy and fit as she was before Megatron had crushed her. She was smiling a warm, comforting smile. Cat was, needless to say, elated as well as confused at seeing her sibling. Before saying anything Cat looked to the ground where Five was standing, and saw the painted transmutation circle.

"What is this?" Cat asked.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Five frowned.

"I… I remember fusing… But I don't understand why we're here," Cat replied.

"Seven, when you and I were last here, we were both dying…" Five seemed to be coaxing Cat into trying to remember their last meeting while they were both alive.

"Yeah… I remember that -AH!" Cat flipped her wrist as she felt the small piece of metal burn into her palm. The metal piece was dropped to the ground, the blue sparks become more and more constant.

"Do you not recall what I had changed your transmutation circle of death into?" Five asked softly.

"Well yeah… You changed it into the fusion transfiguration…" Cat looked from her burned palm to the circle that Five had been standing in.

Five walked out of the circle and up to Cat. She stopped short of their noses being less than an inch apart. Cat took that moment to realize just how much alike their really looked. With the exemptions of Five's yellow eyes, verses Cat's blue ones; as well as Cat's prosthetic limbs verses Five's natural ones. Otherwise, they had the same dark brunette hair, they were the same height, and every other detail were distinctly the same.

Five bent down and picked up the piece of metal, "No, wait!" Cat started to scold her elder sibling, but noticed that the piece was having no effect on her.

Cat felt Five's other hand tug at her right arm, leading her towards the transmutation circle, a firm hold on the girl, but gently leading her.

"You don't remember everything that happened, little sister. If your mind settled on that memory, then you would remember that you were too weak to perform even your own transmutation," Five reminded as she brought Cat to the center of the blue painted circle.

"Yes… I remember being very weakened. I remember you dying, and me thinking that I wasn't too far behind you…" Cat thought back.

"How do you suppose that you were able to, eventually, activate the transmutation circle, then?" Five asked.

"I…" Cat was really thinking hard. She remembered Five dying, and she remembered waiting for her own death… But she couldn't think of how she had been able to use what little energy she had left to do what she had done. Not only that, but according to the Autobots, as well as Sam and Mikaela, almost an entire block of the city was affected. So the energy used for that spell was on that of a rather large scale.

"How _did_ I do that, Five? Did… Did you somehow help me?" Cat looked up to her sister.

Five smiled, "No, Seven. You did it all on your very own. Well… mostly on your own. You were, in reality, only minutes away from death. This," she held up the small piece of metal between her thumb and forefinger at eye level, "is the reason that you were able to fuse your body with mine."

"What is it?" Cat asked, eyeing the jet black metal.

Five didn't answer. She only grabbed Cat's left hand and smiled saying, "You have gifts that you haven't even begun to explore little sis."

Cat only watched in confusion as Five dropped the metal into her left palm. Her eyes grew wide as the pain of the burn caused her to try and flip it from her hand, which didn't work this time. She looked to the object and saw that it seemed to just _melt_ into her palm. Cat looked back up only to see that Five had disappeared. She spun around, looking for her older sister, but didn't see one single sign of her.

The pain in Cat's palm intensified, as she felt her whole body stiffen. Her face shot towards the sky as her eyes closed, feeling a power of unrecognizable force surge through her body. She couldn't take holding it in any longer.

"AHHHH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, the force bursting from her body.

--

"Cram it, Sunny!" Sideswipe yelled in frustration.

"Aw, come on, Sides! Admit it! I have the best looking form!" the gleaming yellow Lamborghini gloated.

Wheeljack, Bluestreak, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had found what they were looking for. Having searched the computer for all the different kinds of sports cars, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were able to find information that led the four of them to Las Vegas, where there was one of many car conventions. And of course, as you all know, you can't have a sports car convention without a red and yellow Lamborghini.

"Help us out, here, Jack! Which one of us looks better?" Sunstreaker asked as they all sped towards the Dam, only a minute or two away from it now.

"Personally, I rather enjoy my own form. It's sufficient for the less than ideal weather situations."

"Less than ideal situations?" Bluestreak asked.

"From what I have surmised of Earth's weather, it can be difficult at times, which makes having the forms of sports cars a bit complicated. My understanding of it is that the Earth goes through, what the humans call, "seasons" in which sometimes it becomes so cold, that droplets of rain actually turn into bits of ice, called "snow"." Wheeljack explained.

"Snow?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yes. This area of Nevada does not usually see much of it, but if it becomes too much, it can cause forms, such as yours, to be disabled during such time. This "Ram" form can traverse such weather much easier," he finished.

"So…" Sunstreaker began, "Which of the _two_ of us do you think looks better?"

Wheeljack was about to explain his theory again, before they all felt the ground shake beneath them. They all slid to a screeching halt as the road had quickly become unfit to drive upon.

"What _is_ that?!" Bluestreak yelled.

Wheeljack struggled, as did the rest of them, to keep a firm grip on the ground with his alt form's tires and replied, "This might be what is called an "earthquake"!"

"How, in Primus, have the humans survived if their entire planet quakes?!" Sunstreaker asked.

"It's not the entire Earth that quakes at once! It is the shifting of tectonic plates beneath the ground, which causes certain areas to-"

"Look at _that_!" Sideswipe interrupted, all of them facing towards the Hoover Dam.

"Jack?" Bluestreak inquired, still struggling to maintain his balance.

"Now that… I don't have any idea…" Wheeljack countered, watching as the entire Dam was engulfed by the bright blue light.

--

"Guys?! Come on, wake up! Or… come back online, or whatever you do!" Will had bolted down the stairway from the surveillance booth and rejoined the Autobots in the training room. He was pacing back and forth between each of the five mechs, trying to find any sign of life. He couldn't tell much, both matters being because the emergency lighting was rather dim, and because he had no idea what it was that he could to reactivate an offline mech.

"Oh man… What do I do?!" he mentally kicked himself for not knowing how to fix them.

"Perhaps you can't do anything, but maybe I could aid you," Lennox turned at the sound of Wheeljack's voice.

The gray mech entered the training facility, looking around at the mechs that lay at his feet, shaking his head.

"Truly, whatever caused this was a source of near unlimited power proportions…" he knelt down to Ratchet first, scanning his superior's systems.

"Do you know what caused that?" Will asked, watching as Wheeljack overlooked Ratchet.

"I'm afraid not… But my first priority is to ensure that no one has been harmed, and to fix those who _have_ been," Will watched as Wheeljack ran his scans over the others.

"Are… Are they dead?" Will asked.

Wheeljack turned and looked down to the human in front of him, "Dead?… Oh, I see. Dead, a human's meaning for no longer being in existence. No, they are not "dead". They have been temporarily knocked offline. That light must have overloaded their systems, but I cannot find the circuits that have been overloaded. It's almost as if whatever knocked them offline… repaired them."

"Well why didn't they come back online if they were repaired?" Will asked.

"They were repaired, but their systems need to reboot. Somewhat like when human healers use anesthetic to repair other humans, it takes time for Cybertronian systems to reboot after a repair," Wheeljack explained, a tool appearing in place of his hand as one of Ratchet's chest compartments opened.

Wheeljack worked on the medic for only a few seconds when Will saw the neon yellow mech's azure optics flicker back to life, his systems revving in response to the reboot. Ratchet sat up quickly, overlooking his surroundings, then looking up to the science officer.

"What, in Primus's name, happened?"

--

It took a little time, but after Ratchet and Wheeljack fixed up Optimus and the others, they began trying to make sense of what had happened. Bluestreak had helped the humans repair the base's transistors, giving life back to the lights, computers and communications.

"No one seems to be able to pinpoint where the energy source originated from. At least no one that I've spoken to so far. The only two areas who we haven't gotten word from yet are the med bay, and the armory," Wheeljack explained.

They got to the med bay first, and saw one of the on-staff doctors walked out.

"Doctor Peterson, good to see that you faired well. How is everyone else?" Ratchet asked.

The man sighed and replied, "I don't even know how to explain what's going on…"

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked.

"Well, it started not too long ago…" the doctor began to explain.

--

-Flashback-

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do…" Peterson sighed.

"That poor little thing," one of the nurses said remorsefully.

"Whoever was taking care of this animal before the girl found it, wasn't taking very good care of it at all. I suppose I'll give her a call. She'll probably want to know," the doctor stood up and walked towards his office when the form of Cat paraded into the smaller part of the med bay.

"Ah, there you are," Peterson caught sight of Cat before picking up the phone.

"Were you looking for me?" Cat asked.

"I was just about to call up to your room… I'm afraid that the animal you brought in didn't make it," he said softly.

Cat frowned and looked to the little animal, laying on a med bay table.

"I was afraid we might have been too late…" her facial features softened mournfully at the creature.

Peterson was about to say something to try to make sense of the animal's death, but he noticed the look of fatigue on Cat's face.

"You haven't fully rested," Cat's head turned to give the doctor a narrowed-eyed glance, "Maybe you should stay for a little while to catch up on some sleep?"

Cat glared at the human for a few seconds but then looked away, "All right… Just a nap… But don't you tell Ratchet that I'm here because I'm sick, or something!"

Peterson gave Cat an indignant look and replied, "I don't _lie_…"

Cat watched the doctor walk back to his office and slam the door. She walked over to a cot, and laid down. For some reason, her eyes felt heavy with the need for sleep, and her body relaxed, already unconscious.

-End Flashback-

--

"A few moments later, one of the nurses noticed that the kid was tossing and turning in her sleep. We tried to get her to wake up, but she only became more forceful against us… When I made to grab her left hand, I noticed that there was a fresh burn in her palm. It was strange…" Peterson explained.

"What was strange?" Will asked, not liking the look on the doctor's face.

"Well, that's when that blue light shot out of her body and overtook us for a moment. Our computer systems failed, the lights went out, but when everything was said and done, the emergency systems somehow reacted, and the lights turned on. That's when I saw it…"

"Saw what?" Ratchet asked.

Before he could answer, a small, black blur raced from the open door of the med bay. It wheeled around Peterson and ran straight into Lennox's foot. Will bent down and scooped up the little ball of fur and brought it up to his face. The little pup licked at his face, squirming around with the energy of a completely healthy animal.

"_That's_ what I saw," the doctor pointed to the pup.

"It seems to have made a full recovery," Wheeljack commented, astonished.

"Yeah… It really took us all by surprise," he crossed his arms and frowned.

"What about Catherine?" Optimus asked, the other mechs looking to the doctor as well.

"Well, we did what we could, but she didn't respond to any of our medications, not even the paddles," the doctor explained.

"Paddles?" Will asked, "You mean you shocked her?"

"Well yes, her heart stopped… I'm sorry to say that she died…" Peterson said sadly.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Chapter Teaser!

"Well, I was sort of hoping you guys might like to take care of this little guy for a while," Will cringed, he was sure that one of Sam's parents would intervene sometime soon.

"Uh… Well…" Sam cringed as well, because he heard his father's footsteps approaching.

"What "little guy"?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"I thought you were watching the game?" Sam asked.

"Commercial break… Oh no, no way. That thing's one of the big ones!" he pointed out.

"Well… He's not big now. And I'd just need you to take care of him for a little while. A few days at most. Just until things settle down. I'd take him home, but I'm sure Sarah and I would have trouble getting Annie to let go of it later," Will explained.

"Where'd you find him?" Sam asked.

"I didn't find him, Cat did," Will said softly.

"Well, why isn't _she_ taking care of it?" Ron asked, watching Sam scratch the pup's ears. Meanwhile, Mojo was growling in protest to this new animal's interference.

"Well… Some things happened while I was at the base and -uh…" Will's voice trailed off.

"What things?" Sam stopped petting the small dog, noticing Will's lack of words.


	11. How I remember it

Hey all! Sorry it took so long, and sorry for the cliffie. I warn all of you against working 65 hours a week if at all possible... Anyway, thank you for the reviews! You know I wouldn't leave you all in the dark for too long! Next week (starting May 11th) is my trip to Las Vegas, so it'll probably be a couple more weeks before you see another update, sorry about that. I'm working on it, I promise!

Anyway, here's the next update! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over Transformers or any other copyrighted material mentioned in this fanfic. However, I DO own Cat and Five, so no stealy stealy... hehe stealy stealy giggle snort

--

"Ron! Can you get the door?!" Judy yelled from upstairs.

"…Busy…" Ron replied as he stared at the big screen television, watching a college basketball match.

"Oh for crying out loud… Sam! Could you get the door for me, sweetie?! I'm still undressed in the shower!" Judy yelled.

"Yeah mom, _that's_ the image I needed to see today…" Sam replied sarcastically as he headed down the stairs.

Little Mojo growled as he tottered towards the front door.

"Get back, Mojo," Sam ordered, gently nudging the small dog away from the door with his foot.

Sam turned the knob on the front door and opened it, revealing the face of Captain Lennox.

"Hey Will. Back from the base already?…" he looked down into the arms of Lennox and saw a squirming pup, "Uh… And you got a new friend?"

"Uh, yeah," Will looked down at the little dog in his arms and then back up to Sam, "You mind if I come in?"

"Sure," Sam opened the door the rest of the way, letting the Captain in, "So, what's up?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping you guys might like to take care of this little guy for a while," Will cringed, he was sure that one of Sam's parents would intervene sometime soon.

"Uh… Well…" Sam cringed as well, because he heard his father's footsteps approaching.

"What "little guy"?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"I thought you were watching the game?" Sam asked.

"Commercial break… Oh no, no way. That thing's one of the big ones!" he pointed out.

"Well… He's not big now. And I'd just need you to take care of him for a little while. A few days at most. Just until things settle down. I'd take him home, but I'm sure Sarah and I would have trouble getting Annie to let go of it later," Will explained.

"Where'd you find him?" Sam asked.

"I didn't find him, Cat did," Will said softly.

"Well, why isn't _she_ taking care of it?" Ron asked, watching Sam scratch the pup's ears. Meanwhile, Mojo was growling in protest to this new animal's interference.

"Well… Some things happened while I was at the base and -uh…" Will's voice trailed off.

"What things?" Sam stopped petting the small dog, noticing Will's lack of words.

--

-Oh damn… What a headache… What the hell happened? Did I get hit by a tire iron?!- Cat's thoughts swirled around for a moment in her aching cranium. Her world was dark and blurry for just a moment before her vision brightened, her right eye being the only one to work at the moment.

"Ngn…" Cat mumbled, her words forming into incoherent slurs.

She tried sitting up but one giant hand, and several pairs of human-sized hands made a grab at her, trying to gently pull her back.

"Lay down," the familiar sound of a sour medic made Cat start to become aware of where she was at.

"R..Ratchet?" she tried to push against the hands, but they became more persistent, all of them going from a gentle nudge, to a firm push.

"That's an order, Andrews," Optimus's voice was what made Cat's eyes open completely. Hearing the leader's voice somewhat startled her, especially when he called her by her last name. She finally stopped pushing against the several pairs of hands and laid back down.

"What… happened?" Cat then realized, that her voice seemed raspy, as her throat was dry and sore.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Ratchet replied, Cat noticed a light flashing across her right eye as her vision came back to perspective, "Can you reboot the power to your left optic?"

Cat realized that she must have looked a bit funky to her friends. She had discovered that her left optic, when offline, was a hazy dark gray. She quickly reinitialized power, which reboot her optic, powering it back on. The vision in her left eye quickly returned, which brightened it back to it's yellow color.

"Good. We were concerned that you had lost sight in that eye," Doctor Peterson sighed with relief.

"It always shuts down when I sleep for a while… What's the deal? All I was doing was taking a nap…" Cat yawned.

"According to several witnesses, you went from recharge to offline without a known cause," Ratchet replied, Cat noticing his rough, grouchy tone.

"Offline?" she asked, knowing that there were several ways that the Autobots defined "offline".

"Well you… sort of died…" Peterson explained.

Cat looked over to the human medic and an eyebrow raised in a bit of concern, "What do you mean, I died? I'm right here!"

"After you fell asleep, you began to toss and turn. We tried to wake you, but your movements became more violent, and then…" the doctor looked to the two mechs for help on what to describe what had happened.

"What?" Cat looked to Ratchet and Optimus, "What happened?"

"Cat," Optimus began, "I'm sure you can recall the events of Mission City…"

"Yeah? What does it have to do with-" and then her mind shifted gears, and the memory of her dream rushed back to her.

"Catherine?" Ratchet asked cautiously.

-I can't tell them about what I saw… They'll think I'm crazy… again…- Cat thought to herself.

Cat felt a human hand go to her shoulder, which pulled her out of her thoughts, looking to Peterson, who was looking down to her with worry.

"Are you all right? Do you feel tired, or any pain anywhere?" he asked the normal "doctor" questions.

"I feel fine…" she growled, sitting up and shaking off the doctor's hand, "I'm still confused as to why I laid down for a nap, and wake up to be told that I died and came back to life," she crossed her arms.

"Of course…" Peterson sighed, "After you laid down to sleep, you shook violently, and then something strange happened… I don't even know how to describe what it is that happened…"

"…What?" Cat asked. She was growing impatient.

Ratchet decided to just come out with it and get it out in the open, "Your body sent a shockwave throughout the entire facility, knocking some of us offline, and causing the Dam's emergency systems to activate."

Cat looked up to the medic with an alarmed look, "You… You mean… Like what happened when…"

"When you and your sister fused… Yes. Except this time it was somewhat different," Ratchet replied.

"How… How so?" she asked softly.

"This one caused some of our systems to disrupt, but then repaired them after doing so. I'm still in the middle of checking over our systems, although so far I've found nothing wrong. It's almost as if we all randomly went into recharge, so it's done no harm," the neon yellow mech finished.

Cat wasn't sure what to think. Wasn't it just a dream? It felt so real but… No… It couldn't have been anything more than just a dream. Now the circumstances seemed to change, and she had no choice but to tell them about what she had dreamt.

Cat put both hands to her forehead as she leaned forward, looking as if she were fending off an intense migraine.

"How could it have been so real?" her voice trembled.

"How could _what_ have been so real?" Optimus asked, carefully seating himself on the floor so that he could get a closer glance at the girl.

"I've… I've been having strange dreams lately…" Cat began.

"That's never good… The last time that you had strange dreams you predicted the arrival of Five, and we had just _SO_ much fun with that prediction…" Ratchet commented sarcastically.

"This one had Five in it too," Cat announced softly.

"Oh Primus…" Ratchet shook his head.

"What happened in the dream?" Peterson asked, having no clue as to what they were speaking of.

"I was back in Mission City. I could see everything around me, but it was all in slow motion, and I couldn't hear anything. People were running around me, their mouths were open because they were screaming, but I couldn't hear them. I finally heard Five call to me like she had back on that day, so I went to her. I went to the building and looked for her, but she wasn't there at first. I expected to see her body as it was before, but she just wasn't there… And then I heard Optimus yell at Sam when he turned and used the Allspark against Megatron," Cat stopped for a minute, trying to recall what happened next.

"Megatron was there?" Optimus asked, worried as to what this entire dream could mean.

"Well yeah, but he was killed, just like on that day… But then something happened. I think it's part of what happened. The part that I couldn't remember. I don't know what it was, but some sort of… black piece of metal appeared at my side on the ground. I picked it up and it burned my left palm," she stopped again to look at her left hand, surprised to see that it was actually burned.

"I saw that burn mark appear when we were trying to restrain you," Peterson took the girl's wrist to get a closer look at it as well.

"When I dropped the metal, Five appeared and picked it up. She kept tell me that it was the whole reason that she and I fused, but she wouldn't tell me what it was. And then she brought me to the transmutation circle and placed it in my hand, where it just looked like it _melted_ into my skin. That's when I felt a power surge within me, and the blue light appeared… After that I woke up here," Cat finished.

"How long have you been having these dreams?" Optimus asked.

"That was the first time that I had that dream. I've had other strange ones… None that I can remember at the moment, but I remember them being strange…" Cat replied.

The room was quiet for several moments, everyone trying to figure out what all of this could possibly mean.

"I suppose we'll have to wait for everything to calm down before we can make sense of anything," Optimus began, "In the meantime, I'll send a report to Bumblebee and let him know what's going on -"

He was interrupted by the sound of a roaring engine and squealing tires. They all looked towards the medical bay entrance to see a yellow blur shoot through the doors, and come to quick halt.

"…I think he knows…" Cat smirked as she laid eyes on the desert dirt ridden Camaro.

The passenger doors swung open, and two familiar faces shot out of the car cabin.

"Cat?!" Mikaela was the first to see the girl sitting up on the human-sized medical bed. She and Sam looked frantic as they made their way over to her.

"We thought you were done for this time!" Sam looked exhausted with worry.

"I must've been out for a while…" Cat remarked, "Me? Done for? You _obviously_ haven't known me for very long," she chuckled.

"Lennox said that he was told that you had died, and come back to life but with very little chance of survival," Mikaela was first to Cat's bedside.

"Very little chance of-?" Cat turned to Peterson, "What kind of doctor are you?!"

Peterson scoffed in reply, readjusting his glasses on the front of his face with a discerning eye.

"You waking up was surprising to everyone, Catherine," Ratchet interjected.

Cat looked up to the two Autobots, three after Bumblebee had transformed into his bipedal mode, with a questioning look. She then looked down to the table and asked, "That bad, huh?"

"Bad enough to make Will think that you weren't going to be needing this anymore," Sam had been wearing, what looked to be, a camera case that was square and bulky. He reached inside the case and brought out a wiggling, squirming puppy which was full of energy.

Cat looked a bit concerned and asked, "Where'd you get that?"

"Will brought him over and asked us if we could take care of it for a while until he found a permanent home for it. He thought you were as good as dead," Sam placed the dog on the bed and it immediately went to Cat's lap, jumping around as if he were a kid on a trampoline.

Cat picked the little guy up and scrunched her face up as the thing leaned forward and caught her with a few licks of his tongue.

"Wait… I thought he was dead?" Cat asked, confused.

"This little guy is one of the miracles that occurred during that little shockwave of yours," Peterson smiled at the animal.

Cat looked to the human physician with more than a surprised look, "You mean… I brought it back to life?!"

"I wouldn't be able to explain it any other way. The thing was half dead when you brought it in, and it was severely malnourished and dehydrated. We couldn't help it fast enough and it died. I watched it die right in front of my eyes, and now here it is," Peterson reached forward and scratched the creature's back.

Cat looked up to Sam and Mikaela with a soft smile and asked, "Isn't this a school night for you guys?"

"Uh, we were told that our friend was dying!? Hello! Of _course_ we were going to be here. We thought that this was the last time to see you!" Mikaela scolded.

Cat giggled, "Believe me, I had no intentions of dying just yet."

"Well you're going to have to be the one to tell mom and dad that you're alive… They were going crazy by the time we left," Sam smiled.

"Oh lord… What a story this'll make…" Cat groaned, putting the pup down on the bed and watching as he romped around happily.

"Guess I've got a new friend," Cat yawned.

"I believe that we've had enough excitement for one day," Ratchet scooped the animal up and handed it to Mikaela, "Why don't you two stay in Cat's apartment tonight? You can leave well rested tomorrow in order to get to your schooling on time."

"But we just got here!" Sam protested.

"Well, we can have some of our new residents show you around since this is your first visit since the overhaul. Catherine needs to rest, and all of you need to leave so she can do just that," Optimus ordered.

"I think I've slept long enough, don't you?" Cat inquired, brushing off Peterson's attempt to reattach the monitoring strips to her.

"We'll need to monitor your sleep patterns since that's where your problems arise from," Peterson insisted as his assistants held Cat to keep her from leaving.

"The dream's over, and so is this conversation!" Cat easily pulled the assistants over the table as they all grunted to being laid out flat on the bed, the three of them finding themselves on their stomachs with their arms reaching over the table.

Cat was about to stroll away when she was stopped by "the look". The three Autobots looked a little peeved… just a little… Just enough to make Cat stop in her tracks. She gulped. Hell, even Bee was staring her down.

Cat sighed and reached into her pockets, throwing her keys to Sam, "I guess I'm stuck here… The big silver one's for my apartment…"

Mikaela hugged Cat and said, "Quit getting into trouble would you?"

"Hey, I don't make any guarantees," Cat joked.

As Cat reluctantly did as she was told, she could only think one thing to herself.

She had to find Five... Only _she_ would have the answers to all of this... But how would she do it?

--

We'll make this the Chapter Teaser, even though this little bit of writing isn't mentioned in the next one.

So... Chapter Teaser ahoy!

In the deep dark areas of the unused portion of the laboratories, something that was thought to be destroyed and lost was now lurking. In a small lockbox filed away in a safe, the shockwave had reached even this quiet section… Or so it was thought to be quiet.

The tall, walk-in safe, sat quietly in it's corner. By the looks of things the paint would fleck off of it before it would even be considered to be opened again. But wait… What was that?

From within the safe there were some soft "booms". As if something were tumbling around. The safe door suddenly burst open, the door being thrown off if it's hinges. The sounds of what seemed to be panting broke the silence. Small, blue optics burned with fury as the smoke from within the safe settled.

"F-f-f-f-frenzy…. Miss-s-s-s-s-ion objective; l-l-l-l-locate Decepticon f-f-f-forces!" The little mech galloped out of the basement facility finding an air vent to crawl into and search out his mission objectives…

Apparently Cat's shockwave could bring back more than just organic life…


	12. Invention Ahoy!

Hey guys! Well, Vegas was a lot of fun! I wish I could go back already... cries... But anyway, thank you all for the reviews up to this point, I'm always happy to see your thoughts on my stories! Anyway, here's the next installment!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but I DO own Cat and Five.

--

Cat sat on the edge of a cliff in the grand canyons. The early morning light washed over the area, making the already golden cliffs as bright as shimmering gold. Her eyes were closed as she was sat back on her hands, her legs dangling over the cliff. She could feel the warmth of the sun envelope her like a warm blanket.

So many memories in just a month. Cat was glad to get away from everything, even if it were only for a couple of days. Her bike stood just a few feet away from her, every part of it glimmering honorably. Cat knew that she would be taking major heat over being gone, but it would be worth it. She had been training herself hard in the new settings of the basement facility, not to mention what they had discovered the day that Sam and Mikaela had come to visit her, thinking that she was dying.

--

-Flashback-

"I just can't get over this apartment!" Mikaela said excitedly, running from room to room looking over everything with awe.

"You think that when we turn eighteen she'll share?" Sam asked.

Mikaela just laughed as she settled down onto the couch, Sam's first instinct lead him to the refrigerator.

"Whoa! Jackpot!" the teen yelled in excitement.

"Sam! We didn't come here to raid her fridge!" Mikaela giggled as she looked around for the remote.

Sam looked up from the top of the door and replied, "We didn't come here to watch the home shopping network either…"

Mikaela turned and gave him a narrow eyed glare and said, "I just like seeing the stupid crap people actually buy…"

"Yeah okay," Sam laughed, ducking his head back into the fridge.

Mikaela rolled her eyes and looked back to the television asking, "So where did Bee go off to again?"

"He was going to catch up with the other guys, see what they've been up to," Sam replied, clinking glass jars together as he corralled items into his arms.

"You don't think that we're keeping him from being around the other Autobots… Do you?" Mikaela asked.

Sam stopped gathering things up and looked over the door at Mikaela again.

"No, I think if he didn't want to be around us, he'd be here instead," he shrugged.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Mikaela smiled.

As Sam started putting together towers of sandwiches, and Mikaela found her favorite channel, there was a loud noise heard from above them.

Mikaela didn't move her eyes away from the television and said, "Quit making all that noise over there! Cat won't be happy if you tear up her apartment!"

Sam had completely stopped what he was doing and looked around the apartment, following the booming noises coming from within the walls.

"It's not me…" he replied, his eyes scanning the ceiling and walls, following the sounds.

The noises grew louder and more profuse.

"Sam I'm serious! If you don't stop making that noise, I'll-" Mikaela froze as she looked over and saw that the boy was, indeed, still as stone himself. Her eyes moved about the room as well, trying to follow whatever it was that was making the noise.

"Sam… What is that?" She asked, getting up from the couch and slowly walking over to Sam, scared.

"Why do I not like where this is going?" Sam asked.

"Maybe we should call for Bee-" as Mikaela said this a loud crashing sound caught them off guard.

They focused their attention over towards the front of the apartment. One of the air vents had burst open, a small cloud of black dust clouded from the small vent. Sam and Mikaela's eyes caught sight of the air vent, but saw nothing in the vicinity of it.

"Sam…" Mikaela was too afraid to say anything else.

Sam turned and looked to his girlfriend with a confused look on his face, "Did Cat happen to mention an infestation of any sort in her apartment?"

"Not that I'm aware of…" the girl answered in a frightened tone.

Suddenly a small blur of silver shot out of the corner of their eyes and they jumped.

"Did you see that?!" Sam asked.

"Y-yeah! Sam… That thing looks familiar… Can we leave to go find the Autobots?" Mikaela responded.

"Yeah… Let's go…" Sam placed his hand on the small of Mikaela's back and nudged her gently out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

When they were just three or four feet from the door, the silver blur shot out in front of them again, this time stopping. Small, beady, blue optics glared at them menacingly.

"Oh my god…" Mikaela backed up into Sam.

--

The med bay was dark and quiet… too quiet for a certain medic.

Ratchet had been busy entering information into the mainframe ever since he and the others had gotten Cat to sleep. It had only been about an hour since then, but something told him that a certain someone was up to mischief. He patched through the communications link to Peterson.

"Something I can help you with?" Peterson picked up the phone.

"What's Catherine's status?" Ratchet asked calmly, still punching information into the mainframe.

"Last I checked she was sleeping without tossing or turning finally. Hold on, though, and I'll check," the medic recognized the sound of the phone receiver being placed on a desk, and the sound of the doctor's chair moving out of position, as well as footsteps. A few seconds later, the footsteps coming back were loud and quick paced. The phone was immediately picked up.

"She's gone!" Peterson growled.

"Gone?" Ratchet stopped typing into the mainframe and looked down into the intercom.

"Well she's not in the med bay at least! How she ever got out without me knowing is kind of a miracle in itself!" Peterson said gruffly.

Ratchet scowled, "Something told me that it was too good to be true that she could stay still for too long…"

--

"Where'd it go?!" Mikaela asked, holding onto the back of Sam's shirt. They had managed to run and take refuge in Cat's bedroom, Sam had the door cracked open a little to see out into the hallway.

"I don't know… Why doesn't Cat have a phone in her bedroom?! And why did we have to leave ours out of our reach?!" he closed the door and looked to the scared girl.

"… You stay here… I'm going to make a run for the door…" Sam ordered, his face stern.

"You're not leaving me here with that thing!" Mikaela scolded.

"I'm just going to get out the door and yell for help, okay?" he reasoned.

Before another word was said, Frenzy began pounding on the door. He could have just as easily just punched through it, but the little creep was more interested in seeing how scared he could make the teens. Sam and Mikaela jumped back away from the door.

"Go, go!" Sam pushed Mikaela so that they were hiding behind Cat's bed for cover.

The door was being pounded on. Again and again the booms never ended.

"What do we do?!" Mikaela yelled.

Finally the door burst open, breaking it off of it's hinges and sending the oak paneled wood flying halfway into the room. There stood the small Decepticon.

"D-d-d-d-destroy!" it yelled.

"Sam…" Mikaela clung to his shirt, burying her face into his shoulder.

Frenzy made a run for the two, his small arms transforming into their weapon forms ready to fire. He jumped onto the bed and leapt into the air. At the last second Sam turned and shielded Mikaela from the oncoming assault.

BANG BANG BANG

Shots fired, and Sam grasped onto Mikaela as tight as possible. But a second after the shots were fired, he could feel no pain. He opened his eyes, and turned to see that Frenzy had landed on the floor just a few feet away, seemingly unharmed, but scared off. His tiny blue optics burning with rage as he looked back towards the doorway.

Cat stood with her forty-four caliber barrel smoking from the shots. She had it pointed directly at the pint-sized creature of metal.

"Cat?" Sam couldn't remember when he was that relieved.

"You two okay?" she asked calmly, her eyes locked onto Frenzy to ensure that he wouldn't harm her friends.

"Y-Yeah we're fine…" Sam answered, moving so that he was allowing Mikaela to look up as well.

"Good… Where the hell did this little freak come from, I wonder?" Cat asked aloud in a low growl.

Frenzy once again transformed his small arms into weapons, needle-sized bullets shooting from his own small armory.

"Get down!" Cat yelled, shooting her own gun at the metal creature and doing her best to dodge it's shots.

Sam shoved Mikaela back down again to protect her from the crossfire.

"Cat!" Mikaela yelled in an even more frightened tone.

Frenzy ran and jumped towards the doorway, causing Cat to backup into the hallway herself, taking refuge in the nearby bathroom as she left her right arm out shooting at the Decepticon. Frenzy made a run towards the living room as he ran backwards, still shooting as well.

Once Cat was sure that he was far enough away, she made a run towards the living room as well, keeping her weapon up and ready. As she entered the living area, she quickly came under fire, ducking down behind a chair. Frenzy never relented on his guns a blazing. He kept firing until he was sure he had managed to strike Cat down. For a few seconds it was quiet after he stopped his barrage.

Cat flew up from behind the chair and began firing herself. She only managed to knick the creature a few times, but not cause any major damage. Cat fired until the magazine attachment ran out of bullets. And now she was out of options.

"Oh shit…" She ducked behind the chair again as small ammunitions tore through her living room.

"I just got all this shit too…" she growled.

Cat was putting a plan together in her head when she saw Sam and Mikaela's head poke out of the bedroom door.

"Get BACK!" Cat ordered firmly, causing the teens to retreat, but not before Sam managed to get grazed by a small bullet on his right cheek.

"Sam!" Cat yelled, seeing the flinching face of her friend.

"That's it!" Cat's yellow eye's retina expanded it's depth perception as she readied herself for battle. She flew from her hiding spot and ran towards Frenzy, jumping from side to side as fast as her still weakened human legs to carry her.

She reached her hands out so that she could grab the little monster by the throat, ready to rip him in two. But before she could reach him, he jumped out of the way, causing her to crash into the floor.

"T-t-t-t-t-too slow!" the small creature cackled with laughter.

Cat growled and was about to stand when the mech-sized garage door slid open, causing Cat and Frenzy to look over and see a confused Bumblebee.

"Frenzy?!" the yellow mech was shocked to say the least.

The small Decepticon knew that he was, now, outnumbered. So he ran towards the windows, Cat getting up and running after him.

"No you don't!" she yelled angrily, her legs pumping to get to him.

Frenzy jumped into the large window, shattering it into thousands of small shards, and dove over the edge of the high cliffs. Cat was just a couple of feet behind him as she took one last long jump and ducked her shoulders, readying herself for a dive out as well. Taking the final leap, she was mere inches from the dive when she felt something grab at the back of her shirt tightly, pulling her back into the apartment. It was such a tight grasp that her arms weren't able to move freely, instead they were simply stuck in the overhead position. She wiggled and jerked in Bumblebee's grasp.

"Let me go!" she ordered.

Bumblebee merely shook his head as he opened a communications link to Optimus.

-Optimus, we have a breech in security! We need every available Autobot to Cat's room, immediately!-

-What's the matter, Bumblebee?- the leader asked.

-Frenzy was here, and Cat's about to harm herself to chase after him!- the yellow mech replied.

-Frenzy? But I was informed by Secretary Keller that they had killed him!-

-Apparently they didn't finish the job as they thought that they had sir- Bumblebee took a better grasp on the angry girl as he surveyed the damage in her quarters.

-We're on our way!- Optimus cut the communications.

"What are you doing?! He's getting away!" Cat screeched.

"A jump like that would surely have killed you… Where's Sam and Mikaela?" he asked, placing the girl on the living room floor.

"They're back in my room! I was pissed because the little freak hurt Sam!" Cat growled.

Bumblebee's shock was even more so apparent on his face, "He was harmed?!"

At that moment, the two teens walked from the hallway, the yellow mech rushing to their sides.

"It's just a flesh wound, Bee. Nothing to worry about…" Sam held some Kleenex paper to his face to staunch the blood flow.

Cat huffed and walked to the broken window, to try and find out where Frenzy might have landed, but couldn't see anything more than rocky cliffs.

"He's gone…" she growled.

-End Flashback-

--

Yeah, Cat could definitely use some time to herself. She hadn't gotten a moment's peace, even after her apartment was repaired. Her eyes opened as the sun had risen just a bit further. She laid back against the rocky ridges and breathed a heavy sigh.

Just a little while longer and she'll start on her way back.

--

"What's this meeting about anyway?" Ironhide griped.

"I heard that Ratch approved an invention of old Jack's, and they're gonna tell us all about it today," Jazz replied.

"An invention of Jack's?!" Ironhide couldn't believe his audio receptors, "That's crazy! Doesn't Ratchet know any better by now, not to trust anything that that crazy mech lays his hands on?!" Ironhide bellowed.

"I'm sure if Ratchet and Optimus approved it, then it must be of some value," Bluestreak commented.

Jazz laughed, "Yeah, but you never know when something's just gonna blow up because of a few bad wires."

"Exactly ma point!" Ironhide agreed.

The twins only smirked at the comments as the room doors opened, and everyone turned to see the three mechs walk in, Wheeljack with a cloth covering a small device in his left hand. They all sat down and began their meeting.

"As some of you may have heard, we have a new product that we'd like to test out. Now I know that some of you may be skeptical, but I can assure you that both Ratchet and I have done some serious overlooking of this project," Optimus started.

"Wat iz it?" Jazz asked with curiosity.

Even with the mask over his face, you could tell that Wheeljack's facial expression was ecstatic.

"I trust that you remember that I dismantled one of those holomatter projectors?" everyone nodded.

"Well, I managed to use those designs to create a projector that would be decent enough for us to use," he continued.

"Use for what?" Sunny asked.

"To create holomatter projectors for ourselves of course!" Wheeljack answered proudly.

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat had relaxed in her bed just enough to the point where she could finally feel her muscles begin to tingle.

A giggle.

Cat's eyes shot open and she sat up in bed.

Another giggle.

Cat looked around her room and saw that she couldn't pick up any infrared signatures.

"Who's there?!" she yelled.

"Shhh! Shut up!" she heard a whisper.

Cat jumped out of bed and made a dash towards the hallway. When she arrived, she stopped dead in her tracks… And screamed…


	13. One of those days

Hey guys! Bet you didn't think that I'd be updating this soon, huh? Thank you to GrimlockX4 for your continuing support! I've managed to find some time to fix up some of the chapters that I've written ahead, so hopefully I'll be able to start posting more often. Thank you all for keeping up with my story! I appreciate every little bit of your support! Well, here's the next update!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Hasbro does... But Hasbro doesn't own Cat or Five, those two are alllllllllllllllllllllllll mine.

--

"Holograms? Why would we need those for?" Sideswipe asked.

"With holograms, we could go out into the human public as needed and walk among them under cover. It would also better service us if we were in high risk reconnaissance situations. The types of situations where even being in our alt modes would be dangerous," Optimus answered.

"So how far are these holograms going to go from our shells?" Ironhide asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, for right now these are prototypes, so they only go about two-hundred feet before they falter. However, these are the only ones that we've managed to test without the holograms failing," Wheeljack replied.

"Failing?" Jazz raised an eye ridge.

"Just minor problems such as the hologram fading before it's supposed to. Nothing we can't fix easily, and nothing that will cause damage to our normal systems," Ratchet replied, giving assurance that the projectors were completely safe.

"So when do we get outfitted for these things?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Today. However, because these are going to be new to our systems, the first time that we activate the holograms we will need them to stay activated for an entire Earth cycle. That way all of the connections are made with the projectors correctly. They're going to take a lot of charge out of us, so we've created adaptations that will force our shells to recharge while we keep these holograms activated," Wheeljack explained.

"Well... As long as it's approved by Ratchet and Optimus, I'll try it," Jazz encouraged, looking over to Ironhide.

The battle-worn mech shook his cranium and sighed, "All right, I'm in too."

"We'll do it!" Sideswipe sounded cheerful.

"I suppose it couldn't do much harm..." Prowl didn't sound too assured that this would work, but he felt the same as Jazz. As long as it was approved by Ratchet and Optimus, he would agree to it.

"Good! Let's get started then. Can we have a volunteer to give it a first try?" Ratchet encouraged.

"I'll do it!" Sunstreaker stood up, looking proud and sure of himself.

Ratchet and Wheeljack escorted Sunny into Wheeljack's own lab, while Optimus seated himself at the meeting table.

"You sure this thing'll work, Optimus?" Ironhide asked.

The leader nodded, "It's mostly part of the human's technology for the projectors that Cat used, so they work, we just wanted to make sure that Wheeljack's changes would have no ill-effects on us."

"Ill-effects?" Ironhide was sounding less and less sure of this whole little experiment.

"It's all been taken care of, Ironhide. Ratchet and I witnessed Wheeljack's first attempt, and saw that the hologram was stable. We also looked over the designs and saw that there was no way that this could go wrong," the leader assured.

"...This _is_ Wheeljack that you're speaking of, correct?" Prowl started to sound a lot like Ironhide at the moment.

Optimus just laughed.

--

It was two o'clock in the morning, and Cat had just arrived back to the base. She parked her motorcycle in it's normal spot and wearily walked back to her room. Her eyes were halfway open, heavy with the need for sleep. Getting to her room, Cat threw her jacket and helmet down on the table. A small dark object seemed to run towards her, causing her to stop in her tracks. The small form of Rotten ran into her legs, and hard. He was carrying a small chew toy and laid it at her feet, wagging his long, black tail.

-Flashback-

A couple of weeks after the little Frenzy incident, Cat, Sam and Mikaela were sitting in Cat's apartment, laughing and playing with the small Rott pup. Cat threw a small soft ball, and the dog ran after it, his paws skidding on the wood flooring as he chased it down the hallway, bringing it back.

"So have you decided what you're going to name him?" Mikaela asked.

Cat smirked and picked up the small pup, letting him lick her face, "Yeah, I've decided to call him Rotten."

"Rotten? What made you come up with _that_ name?" Sam asked.

"Are you kidding?" Cat smiled and reached behind her, pulling out a weaved basket full of nothing but toys. Pig ears, tug toys, marrow bones, squeaking soft toys and tennis balls filled the basket to its rims.

"He's only been here for a couple of weeks and already he's got me wrapped around his little paw..." Cat laughed and set the pup down, throwing the small chew toy down the hallway again.

"Aww," Mikaela smiled at Cat.

"What?" Cat gave her a raised eyebrow.

"You love him," she squeaked with joy.

Cat rolled her eyes, but smiled when the little creature brought the toy back to her, laying it in her lap this time.

"Yeah well... Don't tell anyone..." Cat scratched the small dog's back and watched as it rolled over so that she would rub his belly.

"Yeah, I'd say he's got you all right," Sam laughed.

-End Flashback-

Cat picked the little guy up and felt his hot tongue run across the bottom of her chin.

"Has Bluestreak been taking care of you, little guy?" Cat cooed at her small friend, remembering that Bluestreak had promised to look after the animal whenever she was gone for more than a few hours. She saw that the food bowls were partly full, and the water dish was near the top of the rim.

"Yeah, he's been here recently," Cat gave a tired smile, "You ready for bed little guy?"

Rotten gave a whimper in return as an answer. He knew what "bed" meant. Cat walked into the kitchen and opened up the small kennel, placing the pup inside.

"Sorry Rotten, but you're still too young to know better than to mess up the bed sheets," she locked it into place and stood back up, turning down the hallway to get into her bedroom. She dropped on the bed like a ton of bricks.

"I love the bike... But driving on it for 5 hours straight is a bit much..." her eyes closed and within seconds she was asleep.

--

-Earlier-

"So have you all picked the hologram that you'll be using?" Wheeljack asked, watching as the others had their optics off, while they went through the new programming in the projector's system to pick how their holograms would look.

"I want mine to be the same color as me!" Sunstreaker griped.

"Humans can't paint their skin different colors the same way we can... However, they _can_ dye their hair different colors. You may want to try that," Wheeljack suggested.

Sunstreaker whined a little, but continued on with his search for the perfect human form of himself. As soon as they were all finished, Wheeljack hooked them all up to the adaptations that would keep their actual bodies recharging while their systems made all the connections to their new projectors.

"Everyone ready?" The science officer asked.

"Let's do this!" the two jovial voices of the twins shouted, while everyone else grumbled, excluding Optimus, who only hoped that everything would actually go as planned.

"Activate your projectors!" Wheeljack gave the okay, as the Autobots all activated their holograms at once.

--

Cat's eyes blurred into perspective. Her tired body protested against moving after only four hours of sleep, but she couldn't help but hear the cries of Rotten from his kennel.

"Ugh... Must need to go out already..." she grouched as she rolled out of bed, her shoulders slumped, her eyes halfway open, and her feet dragging on the floor.

Cat managed to get to the kitchen, where she saw Rotten raise his tail and wag it profusely.

"All right, little guy... Let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep..." she opened the kennel and picked the small pup up, "Let's hope we can avoid anyone who are going to ask too many questions about where I've been..."

Cat walked down the hallways and corridors of the base. And it was quiet the entire way.

"Odd... Where is everyone?" Not that she minded the fact that not even a technician was around to bother her, but something seemed off.

Even on the way back from taking Rotten, Cat encountered no problems. She barely saw a group of day shifters from some of the laboratories.

Arriving back to her room and placing Rotten back in his Kennel, Cat kicked off her sandals and threw off her light jacket. Since she had gone to bed with her clothes on, she decided to take the extra time and put on the more comfortable pajamas, and climb into bed.

Cat had relaxed in her bed just enough to the point where she could finally feel her muscles begin to tingle.

A giggle.

Cat's eyes shot open and she sat up in bed.

Another giggle.

Cat looked around her room and saw that she couldn't pick up any infrared signatures.

"Who's there?!" she yelled.

"Shhh! Shut up!" she heard a whisper.

Cat jumped out of bed and made a dash towards the hallway. When she arrived, she stopped dead in her tracks… And screamed…

--

"Have you experienced any problems with your hologram as of yet?" A slightly grayed and light brown short haired, muscled human male asked.

The other male was short black-haired, a bit taller than the other, also muscle bound.

"I experienced a minor problem when I traversed a bit too far than the projector has allowed for. Other than that, so far so good. This might actually be a creation of Wheeljack's that hasn't totally been a -"

"AHHHHHHHH!" a woman's scream had the two holograms turning in their shoes.

"Was that Cat?!" the shorter hologram asked.

"I believe so!" the other answered as they ran towards the sound.

--

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" an angry Cat chased three holograms towards the exit of her room, with the intent of bodily harm.

"RUN RUN RUN IDIOT!" one of the holograms yelled, pushing another out of the way.

"CALM DOWN GIRL! IT'S US!" the hologram that was mere inches from the clutches of the angered girl hollered in desperation as the others scattered.

Cat managed to corner one of them by the front entrance when the door flew open, where two other holograms looking rather startled and confused gasped and moved out of the way. The hologram that was cornered in front of the door turned and "EEKED" just before being pummeled to the ground right outside the door. Cat had the intruder straddled, her left fist curled tightly, holding the red shirt tightly in her grasp. Her metal right arm was raised, her eyes were wide and feral, death was spelled out within them.

"YOU'VE GOT TEN SECONDS TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF BEFORE I BUST YOUR SKULL!" Cat growled.

"Meep..." The red haired, blue eyed hologram cringed. Even though he was a hologram, Sideswipe couldn't help but feel a bit displaced being under the crushing weight of the human girl's furious expression.

"Cat! Stop!" Bluestreak's messy light brown haired hologram yelled, Sunstreaker's blonde haired feature appeared directly behind him.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Optimus's voice boomed, confused.

"I found these three guys in my room, Optimus! I was about to pound on them when-" Cat turned and looked in the direction from where the voice of the Autobot leader had come from. She froze.

"W-Who said that?" she asked.

"Cat," Ratchet's hologram put his hands up to try and calm her before there was a major problem, "It's us. Just relax before you damage Sideswipe!... On second thought..."

Optimus's human form glared down at the medic.

Ratchet sighed and repeated, "It's all right, Cat. Just calm down."

Cat still had her metal fist raised, but turned her head around to see the other two holograms standing there, gawking. She then looked down to the male that she had pinned to the ground and asked, "S-Sideswipe?"

The red-haired hologram nodded slowly, "Yeah, it's me... And that's Sunny and Blue too," he pointed towards the other two intruders.

Cat immediately stood up and backed away from where the five stood.

"Wha-? How did-?... What the _hell_ is going on here?!"

--

It had taken a few minutes to explain everything, but Optimus and Ratchet managed to calm Cat down enough so that she was no longer irate.

"So what brought all this on?" Cat asked as she sipped on a glass of ice water.

"Wheeljack got the idea to create human holograms for us as better disguises. This way we'll be able to go out into public without worry of being discovered. We can even use them for reconnaissance missions when it's too dangerous to use either of our other two forms," Ratchet explained.

"I see... Couldn't you have warned me before doing something like that?" Cat asked.

"We would have explained everything if you had been around to explain this to..." Optimus crossed his arms.

"Hey! You guys get time to yourselves, and so should I!" Cat smirked but it didn't last long. She looked over to Blue and the twins and gave a confused expression.

"How did you guys get in anyway?" she asked.

"We used the emergency code on the keypad... It was _supposed_ to be a funny surprise," Sideswipe answered.

Before Cat could even begin to tear into the trio, Optimus said something first.

"That code is to be used for emergencies only! In fact, had Ratchet or I been at our normal posts, we probably would have noticed that the code was used and sent everyone here!" he scolded.

"Sent everyone here?" Bluestreak asked.

"Yes, Cat set that code so that it would give us a silent alarm! If we had been in our normal modes, we would have had Autobots and military personnel here within seconds!" Ratchet crossed his arms.

"That, and I had no idea what was going on! I was set on "kill" mode!" Cat griped.

Sunny smirked, "Not that you would have been able to harm us."

"You didn't look so sure of that when Cat was about to damage your brother," Ratchet commented with a smirk.

"Yeah... well..." the blond grumbled under his breath and looked away with a sour expression on his face.

"I can't say I'm surprised at the twins, but I'm slightly surprised that they managed to talk you into this little caper, Bluestreak," Optimus commented.

Bluestreak's hologram looked ashamed, "Yeah... so am I..."

Cat smirked -That's the first time I haven't heard him go on a word bender.-

--

Wheeljack's hologram form was rather suave for what you'd think. He was tall with medium, black, wavy hair, wearing tight fitting blue jeans and a white muscle shirt. He was in the medical bay, monitoring all of the Autobot's original forms, ensuring that there wouldn't be a complication with the charging systems. He checked his internal chronometer and smirked.

"Only twelve hours left before the systems fully connect to the projectors! Hopefully, I've broken the chain of bad luck with my inventions! Perhaps if I continue this new trend, I'll no longer have to present my ideas before building them!" he felt a great deal of hope for this inventions, as well as for his future inventions.

He walked over to the mainframe and pulled up the blueprints for the projectors. He overlooked them, already thinking of ways to improve them so that they could travel farther with them, and possibly carry heavy loads as well. He was so into looking over the blueprints, that he didn't even notice that a small error code was blinking on the monitor screens for every shell being charged.

--

Cat stretched out on the couch and yawned. After enjoying listening to the twins get a good scolding from Optimus, the day was more boring afterward. Even little Rotten was curled up on his small dog bed. Cat was fixing herself some lunch and waiting for it to heat up when she heard a knock at the door. She raised an eyebrow at the door, wondering if she should bother getting up to answer it.

"Eh... I suppose whoever's there has to be more entertaining than what I'm doing now..." she go up from the couch and walked to the door, opening it.

From behind the door, the new faces of Jazz, Ironhide and Prowl peered through. Jazz's form was a young, dark skinned man, about in his mid twenties or so. His baby blue eyes made his facial features look as cheerful and as easygoing as what the mech was normally like his in normal form. Ironhide was a short buzzed cut, dirty blonde look, wearing camo pants and army regulation boots, along with a dark fitting wife-beater tank; looking to be about in his early forties or so. Prowl was an averaged size man, probably looked about to be in his mid thirties, dressed in black slacks and a white button down polo shirt.

Cat smirked, "Too easy. Prowl, Jazz, and Hide. Lookin' good guys!"

"Heard ya had an incident with a few of our boys earlier today," Jazz grinned.

"Yeah, but they're being taken care of. Although I sort of felt sorry for Blue. I don't think he really wanted to "surprise" me like the twins had planned to do," Cat replied.

Cat was about to invite them in when she noticed that the three of them had wandering eyes. Wandering as if they were looking for something specific.

"Everything okay?" Cat asked, confused.

"Well... We stopped by because we... Well I'm not sure exactly how to describe it," Prowl looked to be beside himself.

"I believe the term is "aroma". We could... smell... something," Ironhide commented.

"Smell? Are you holograms supposed to be able to pick up olfactory senses?" Cat asked, allowing them into her apartment as they spread out a little, overlooking the apartment.

"We dunno," Jazz answered, "But as we walked by, we could smell something that had an effect on us of some sort..."

"What sort of effect?" Cat asked, worried about where they were going with this.

Before they could answer, Cat heard a loud rumbling noise... An odd sort of sound with these three... She looked over to the boys and her eyes widened, "Did... Did one of your stomachs just... did one of your stomachs just growl?!"

"Is that what that noise is? It's been annoying the slag out of us! We thought that something was wrong with these forms!" Ironhide said gruffly.

"What's it mean when yo stomach "growls"?" Jazz asked, looking rather curious.

"It... Well it means that you're hungry... But I thought that being hungry wasn't supposed to be something that would have an effect on you?" Cat asked.

Jazz shrugged.

Cat raised an eyebrow, "Er... I'm-uh... Going to call Jack... You guys stay here and don't... eat anything."

Cat walked down the hallway and into her computer room, Rotten prancing behind her, his claws causing him to slip and slide across the hardwood floors. Cat sat down at her desk, in front of the computer and reached over, grabbing the phone which was off to the side. She dialed through the internal dialing system which got to the lab.

-Jack here-

"Wheeljack? Hey it's Cat.."

-Well good afternoon kiddo. What can I do for you?-

"Uh, yeah... I had some questions about this new hologram program that you have going... Could you send me the blueprints for the projector system?"

-Absolutely! I can send them to you right this second! Actually, I was just overlooking it myself. I'm almost overjoyed at the fact that the group has allowed me to try a new invention out on them.-

Cat checked her email and saw that Wheeljack had already sent her the document containing the blueprints. She stayed on the line while she overlooked them.

-So, you've discovered that you're even more interested in my new design?- Wheeljack boasted.

"Uh, well, I had some questions about it, really."

-Oh? And what would you like to know?-

"Well, you see I've got three of the guys here, and they're exhibiting some strange... things..."

-...Exactly what do you mean by strange things?-

"Well, they only stopped by because they said they could smell the food that I was cooking."

-Ah, yes. The holograms are equipped with olfactory senses. Most Autobots have them anyway. Is that what you were referring to as a "symptom"?-

"Well it's not so much that they could just smell, but they were having human reactions to it."

-Human reactions? Could you be more specific?-

"They're stomachs were growling."

Wheeljack took a moment to ponder the meaning of a "growling stomach".

-This action demonstrates that a human is in need of refueling. But the holograms are not supposed to have refueling capabilities.-

"Yeah, which is why I'm calling you... If they're not supposed to feel a hunger pang, why are these three sniffing through my kitchen like bloodhounds?"

And then she saw it.

"Hey Jack? Do me a favor and tell me what this little section is," Cat zoomed in on a section of the blueprints, saved the image and sent it to the science officer.

-Ah, yes. That is the converter that turns the molecules into solid masses, making the hologram more believable. Why do you ask?-

"The molecules that form the holograms... It looks like it's taking a lot of power... And maybe more than that," Cat was so into paying attention to the blueprints that she barely noticed Rotten scratching against her legs and whining for attention.

-Impossible. There are safety features that prevent such occurences. If the converters over compensated, I would probably be seeing alarms, or error codes which-

"... Jack?" Cat looked at her phone, thinking that she had lost connection, "Jack? You there?"

-Primus... Catherine, do you think that you could come down to the lab and assist me?-

"Assist you with what?"

-It seems that you are correct... The converters have failed, and I can only wonder what sort of problems it will cause.-

Cat's eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

"Hey girl! You- uh... You mind if we have a taste of your human fuel?" Jazz poked his head into the computer room.

"Jack... You didn't create a hologram _projector_... You created a matter _converter_!" She swiveled around in her chair and saw that all three of the "holograms" were in the room, all of their stomachs growling.

"Matter converter? What's that mean for us exactly?" Ironhide asked.

"...It means your sparks are being converted into your hologram bodies... You're turning into humans!" Cat felt an aneurism coming on.

--

I think that's about as good as it should get for a cliffhanger Chapter Teaser, don't you?


	14. To Be Human

Hey all! Yes indeed, it's an update!! Excited, I know, so am I! I promised an update sooner rather than later, and although I'm still a little off track, here's what I can give you for now. Now, I've mentioned recently that I will be thanking you guys properly for your reviews, and here it is!

GrimlockX4: Yeah, I think we all knew where Wheeljack was going to go wrong D I guess the only way to find out more is to keep an eye out!

AccessBlade: I definitely can't wait to laugh at them too!

FordB: I've been wondering where you've been! That's okay, I've been busy too. It's hard not to be these days.

the-human-error: Assuming that the Autobots _do_ get their bodies back (wink) we could use a little payback on the Decepticons... perhaps... And I did promise that there would be romance, and I intend on keeping it, unfortunately it's just taking a lot longer than I thought to get there. And thank you so very much for your comments! Words like that are inspiring to keep authors in their groove!

I'm going to start doing that with every chapter, so keep any eye out for my updates and make sure to let me know what you think of my story!

Also, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, I've started another story which is called: **Project Seven: Living with the Witwicky's**

I've been thinking about sacking it because it's dragging a little bit, but I figured that it needs to keep up the middle part between the months of living at the Witwicky's and living at the Dam.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. I own Cat and Five... And Rotten.

--

"She's right..." Ratchet let out a sigh, "Our sparks are slowly being converted into these holograms..."

Wheeljack mentally scolded himself for making such a mistake. Now, not only were they changing into their human hologram forms, they had no idea how to reverse it safely.

"Why don't we just try a full reversal?" Cat asked, overlooking the blueprints on the lab's mainframe.

"It could overload the projectors, and our sparks could combust, that's why," Ratchet explained sourly.

"...So why not just reverse it slowly? If we slow down the rate at which the spark matter is being transfered, and then bit by bit reverse the process, why wouldn't that work?" Cat asked.

"Let's not do anything rash at the moment Cat. We need to anaylize what we're up against before trying to solve the problem," Optimus replied.

Cat shrugged, "Just trying to help."

"We shouldn't have all done this at once... We should have just tried it out on one of the twins..." Ratchet scolded himself as well.

"Hey!" The twins yelled.

"How long until the sparks fully convert?" Optimus asked.

Wheeljack's hologram and Cat sat at the mainframe computer interface as they both imput the numbers.

"Three days worth of the Earth's daily cycles," Wheeljack replied.

"So you're saying that if we don't find a way to convert back to our shells... We'll be humans forever?" Sunny asked.

"No, not forever," Cat replied, keeping her face straight at the mainframe's giant screen monitor.

"How long then?" Sideswipe asked.

"Well... Human males usually live for about eighty years or so..." she tried to make a joke out of it, but realized too late how not so funny it was. She smirked and then looked back to the human versions of the Autobots and saw death glares painted on each one of their faces, with the exception of Optimus, who was shaking his head.

"Sorry..." Cat stopped smirking and turned back to the computer screen.

"We can't stay humans! I don't want to be a squishy forever!" Sunny made an outburst.

Cat was the one to turn her face into a death glare as she shot the look back to the blond man, "You want me to show you just how _squishy_ we can get?!"

"Enough! Ratchet, I want you, Wheeljack and Cat to try and figure this out," Optimus ordered as Ratchet nodded, "The rest of us will just have to figure out how to... be human..."

"You say that like you have a bad taste in your mouth, Optimus," Cat smirked.

"This is something that's going to take a while to get used to..." The Autobot leader replied.

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out. I won't let you guys stay this way," Cat tried to cheer the group up a little.

"Let's hope so, Cat," Optimus patted the girl on the shoulder before leaving, Prowl following close behind.

"I still say we slow the converter and then try a reversal," Cat said.

"Optimus is right. If we try anything too rash now, it could end up being a catastrophe. We need to take precautionary steps in order to make this right," Ratchet explained.

"I apologize. This is all my doing... I shouldn't have rushed through the schematics," Wheeljack sighed heavily.

"Aw, don't ya worry, Jack. I'm sure we'll have this all straightened out in no time at all!" Jazz gave his usual cheery smile.

"Besides, it's not your fault... It's mine..." Cat said quietly.

The group looked to the girl, "How do you figure that?" Ratchet asked.

"If I hadn't told you about the projectors, Wheeljack wouldn't have taken an interest in them," she explained.

"Let's stop blaming ourselves and start fixing this, shall we?" Ratchet said gruffly.

Cat and Wheeljack nodded as they continued looking over the blueprints.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can relax," Ironhide encouraged.

There was a pause in silence before a small growl could be heard. Cat stopped her typing into the keyboard and looked to Ratchet, who looked almost as if he were blushing.

Cat stood up and smiled, "Well we've got two things to take care of now."

"What's that?" Bluestreak asked.

"I need to find some information about the projectors, and we need to see what you guys can handle eating for now."

--

"Optimus," Prowl's monotone voice called out to the Autobot leader.

Optimus turned and waited for Prowl to approach, "Yes?"

"Optimus, I have to object to either Ratchet or Wheeljack working on this issue," the security officer said.

"And why is that?" Optimus asked.

"Tell me Optimus, can you access any of your main systems? Access the Earth's World Wide Web even?" Prowl asked.

"Of course I can, I-" just to prove that he could, Optimus tried to activate the internet capabilities but found that there was a return error in his databanks, "... I suppose I can't..."

"My point exactly. Wheeljack is already notorius for creating problems, but if he cannot access is own databank system, then he is more than likely to make more mistakes. Ratchet seems to have his logic processor in the right order still, but without access to his normal systems, he could be lacking his normal attributes."

"I see... And what do you suppose we should do about this?" Optimus couldn't deny that Prowl had made a good point.

"Catherine certainly seems capable of taking care of this. After all, she's the one who caught this oversight in the first place. Perhaps we should leave this in her and the human scientists capable hands?" Prowl suggested.

Optimus considered Prowl's suggestion for a moment. Cat may have been capable, but she couldn't do this alone. The human scientists were probably capable as well, but they didn't have experience and knowledge of Cybertronian systems like Cat had, and she wouldn't have the time to explain and teach them everything that they would need to know in three days. On the other hand... If he left Wheeljack and Ratchet with her, the knowledge that they had retained over the course of their lifetimes may not be put to good use, and they may very well make a mistake that leads to this problem getting worse, or irreversable.

Optimus sighed and replied, "I understand Prowl. However, Cat won't be able to do this on her own. We need a redundancy system, and even if Ratchet and Wheeljack can't access their main databanks, they still have their experience to help them out. If Cat were to make a mistake, then she would need one of them to catch it before it becomes a problem. The same goes for Ratchet and Wheeljack."

"I see. Yes, I suppose you're right. I only wonder if this problem _can_ be solved..." Prowl addressed his concern.

"I worry about that as well. But all we can hope is that we're in the capable hands that we believe we're in," Optimus replied.

Prowl only nodded in response.

--

"Why are we eating these tiny circles again?" Ironhide bellowed, holding a small cheerio up to his face, making a sour expression.

"If you guys are just starting out eating organic foods, then you need to start small. This will be the first time that you've ever eaten anything and your digestive systems will be as soft as a newborn infant's. If you try eating something too solid, there could be drawbacks," Cat explained, trying to encourage her friends to start slow.

"I'd prefer it if we were working on getting back to our old bodies..." Ratchet grumped.

Cat made a confused face and looked at the medic, "Being in medicine, you should know that humans have to eat for energy to do things like concentrate on big projects like that. If you don't eat, you'll lose energy, and you'll have to listen to your stomach growl for three days."

"...I suppose you have a point," Ratchet replied.

Cat smiled, "I _know_ I do! Now. Take one of these little guys and put them in your mouths and chew on them slowly. When it's grinded down to practically nothing, you swallow it."

Cat demonstrated by popping a small, single cheerio in her mouth and exaggerating the motions of chewing and then swallowing what was left. The "Autobots" looked at the small circles and they started on eating them one by one.

And of course, chaos ensued.

"No, no! Not like that Ironhide! You _chew_ on them, not pound them with your fist!"

"That's your _nose_ Sideswipe! Don't put it in there! Better yet... let me get you some new ones..."

"You don't eat the box, Blue!"

"It's okay to eat, Ratchet, I promise!"

"Come on, Jack! Haven't you ever heard don't play with your food?!"

As soon as they all started to eat them the _right_ way, Cat sighed and trekked out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Ratchet asked as he munched on a few more little pieces of the crunchy cereal.

"I told you. I have to work on the projectors," Cat replied as she left.

--

Cat arrived to the training basemen facility and walked straight up to the command booth where the projector computer systems were. She sat down at one of the computer consoles and sighed.

"There has to be something in here that will tell me more about the projectors!" Cat grumbled to herself as she sat and typed away.

It was nearly an hour before Cat was about to give up. Her fingers were sore after typing for such a long time, and her back and neck were in need of some stretching after having to crane to be in the position of sitting at a desk for so long. She leaned back in the chair and put her head entirely back, with her hands over her face. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, feeling like she had cleared out her lungs of exhaustion. She was about to get up and leave when her eyes caught something on the computer. She turned back to the computer screen and hunched over it, thinking that it was just her imagination.

But there it was. A file marked "CREATORS OF PROJECTION SYSTEM".

Cat sat back down at the computer and opened the file. She was nearly elated to find such a critical piece of information. If she could get a hold of one of the guys that actually put the original projector together, she might find some answers that she wouldn't have found otherwise. When the folder finally opened, Cat's hopes fell to the ground. There was only one name there, and it didn't provide any contact information. 'Brett Craft' was the name.

Cat sat back in her chair again and groaned loudly, "This wild goose chase thing is getting old!"

"Cat?" The girl swiveled around in her chair, startled, as she saw the concerned faces of Optimus, Ratchet and Wheeljack.

"Hey... What are you guys doing here?" Cat asked as she turned back towards the computer.

"We were wondering the same thing about you. We thought that you would be in the med bay," Wheeljack explained as they walked into the room. They were looking around a bit, this being the first time that they were human-sized and able to look around this small command center themselves.

"I thought that maybe the assholes who created this stuff could give me a little help from the notes that they made from building them," she explained.

"Any luck?" Ratchet leaned over to look at the computer monitor that Cat was staring into.

"Just a name, but nothing to go with it. No phone number, address, or even an email address that we can write a letter to," she looked to Optimus, "Do you think that you could call... someone... and get the information we need from this name?"

Optimus looked down to the girl and smiled, "Do you mean you would rather me contact Keller instead of you having to do it?"

"...Yes... Yes I do..." Cat looked back to the computer screen acting as if the name of Keller didn't bother her.

Without Cat's knowledge, Ratchet gave Optimus a quiet shove and smirked, pointing down to Cat and crossing his arms.

Optimus cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry Cat. But I already have enough things to do to keep me busy. You're just going to have to call him yourself."

Cat looked back up to the Autobot leader's hologram, the smirk on his face evident, "You can't take ten minutes to make a phone call to get a name out of him?"

"If the task is so simple, then why not do it yourself?" Ratchet asked.

"Because I'm already busy down here!" Cat tried to reason that she was already putting effort into fixing this situation.

"I'm sorry, Cat. You're just going to have to do this yourself," Optimus and the other two left the room, leaving the astonished Cat in their wake.

--

The phone was sitting quietly on Cat's dining room table. Just sitting there ominously.

Cat stared at it from across the room. She was sitting on her knees on the couch, turned backwards with her hands on the back of furniture. She stared at it as if it were a time bomb about to explode, bunkering behind the couch. Her fingers tapped against fabric in a nervous fashion. Rotten was sitting on one of the couch cushions, looking at Cat with a cockeyed expression.

She _really_ didn't want to do this...

"This is stupid!" Cat shot up from the couch and walked over to the phone, "It'll just take a minute. I won't have to talk to him long!"

She started dialing the numbers into her phone before hitting the off button and throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

"But then he's going to want to ask questions about 'how I'm doing' and 'making sure everything is going all right for me'! I don't want to chat! I just want information and to be done with it!" she walked through the living room and looked out the windows of her apartment, her eyes scanning the mountainous regious all around her. The orange rocks were bright and colorful in the sunset. Cat sighed and brought the phone back up to dial the numbers, only to be stopped by someone knocking at the door.

Cat swirled around and ran for the door telling herself 'Someone's here to waste time - I mean talk! I can't possibly call Keller when I have a guest!' Rotten followed her with a cheery jaunt, always excited to see more people.

She, all too happily, opened the door, swinging it open upon its hinges, a smug gring plastered on her face.

Jazz, Ironhide, Bluestreak and the twins stood at her door. The little Rot pup sprinted out the door to the human forms of the Autobots and jumped at Bluestreak. The "mech" absent-mindedly picked up the little dog, rubbing at his floppy ears.

"Ah! No doubt you have a question about how to be human?" Cat asked cheerily.

"Uh... Yeah..." Jazz answered, looking even more confused as to why Cat looked so excited.

"Ask and you shall receive! I am your guide to your inner human!" she waved them all inside, "Please, do come inside and have a seat! Tell me all about it!"

The five of them stepped inside the apartment and they sat down on the furniture. Cat closed the door behind the last one in and sat with them. Bluestreak set Rotten down on the floor so he could run to each one of the new humans to smell them and yap to his little heart's content. Rotten loved having people in too.

"Do you guys need something to drink?" Cat asked in a kindly hostess manner.

"No," Ironhide answered.

"Something to eat? Obviously the cheerios worked out well for you," she offered.

"No thanks, Cat. We just had a question about-" Jazz started.

"Are you completely sure? I've just made a fresh fruit salad, maybe this a good time to test out your taste buds and-"

"We just had one little question is all!" Sunstreaker growled.

Cat stopped her badgering and asked, "All right. What's the question?"

"Well... Not long after we had those small circles to eat and the necessary liquid refueling, we all felt something strange," Jazz started.

"Strange? Strange like how?" Cat asked, she stopped looking so cheerful and hopeful for something to do and now felt as if she needed to help her friends in need of something important.

"We're feeling a strange pressure in our lower abdomens... Feels funny, and we can't focus on anything else or walk for long distances without the pressure getting worse."

"Pressure? You mean you-" Cat didn't need anymore information. She knew what this was and sighed, "You need to go to the bathroom... I'll call for Peterson... This sounds like something he should handle for you guys..."

"Why can't you help us?" Ironhide asked.

"Because it... You're... I don't know either!" Cat said frustrated as she walked over to the little directory that was left for her to have the numbers to reach most of the areas of the facility.

They stood up and walked over into the kitchen where Cat was looking for the number to reach Peterson. Rotten had taken a good hold on Sideswipes pant leg and was growling a puppy growl and shaking his head back and forth to attempt to rip the pants.

"Hey!" Sideswipe grabbed for the pup but Rotten had already fled away from being caught.

"But you're human aren't ya? Isn't this something that all humans do?" Jazz asked

Cat blushed, "Well it is but... Well... It's different for you guys!"

"Different? Different how?" Hide asked.

"I... It... You guys are... Guys! And I'm not! Therefore, different!" She tried not to act taken back at their request, but it was rather hard not to.

"There's differences for human males and human females?" Bluestreak asked.

"Oh I get it!" Jazz suddenly realized something.

Cat looked to Jazz with a foreboding look on her face, as if she didn't really want them to _know_ the differences because it was one of those unspoken rules that something like that wasn't mentioned. Normally because humans knew what they were supposed to do in these situations and didn't require assistance, but even in this case Cat felt it was better left to the medical professionals to deal with it.

"You do?" Cat asked.

"This has to do with that whole human reproduction thing doesn't it? We had some questions about that too!" he asked with a knowing smile on his face, as if he was the kid in the class that had answered the question correctly after raising his hand to the teacher.

Cat's already red face blushed even further. She said nothing in response to Jazz's question but dialed the number to the med bay quickly, "Peterson? I'm sending the... guys... down to you... They have a few questions for you..."

--

With that problem solved, and the boys' having gone down to the medical bay to get their little problems taken care of, Cat sighed and picked up the phone again. She dialed the number, and this time she didn't hang up.

The phone rang several times, Cat hoping that she would get the answering machine or someone just wouldn't pick up.

To her dismay-

"Hello, Secretary Keller's office," The sound of Jennifer, Keller's secretary, picked up.

"Uh... Yeah... This is Catherine Andrews. I need to speak with Keller..."

"Hold on just a moment for me Catherine," she transfered the line. Cat laid down on the couch while she was listening to the notorious "on hold" music.

"This is John," Keller picked up the line.

"...Keller? It's Cat..."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone, "Well, now!" he sounded surprised, "I never expected to hear from you! What can I do for you young lady?"

"Well I have some problems, and I need you to find out some information for me," Cat explained.

"Oh? What sort of problems?"

After a few minutes of an explaination, Cat finally ended her story with, "So I need you to find out who this "Brett Craft" is so we can ask him some questions about how to fix this mess."

"That _is_ a problem... I'll do what I can, but if we've lost any employment information on this guy during the destruction of the Dam's facility, we may be at a certain disadvantage," Keller explained.

"I don't expect much really. Just do what you can, we don't have much time to play with here," Cat explained.

"Yes, I understand. I'll make quick work of this and have an answer for you by tomorrow morning," Keller answered seriously.

Cat was hoping that this was the end of it until she heard, "Is everything all right otherwise? Are you adjusting well since that attack in your apartment?"

Cat scowled, "Yes... Everthing's fine..."

"Well, all right then. Let me know if there's any other problems or if there's something I can do to help otherwise," Keller replied.

"I will...Thanks..." Cat hung up the phone.

Closing her tired eyes, which were heavy with the need for sleep, Cat let herself drift off a little when the phone rang once more. She picked it back up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Cat?" a familiar voice asked.

"Hey Bee... What's up?" She asked.

"I was wondering if there was a problem," he sounded worried.

"Problem?"

"I've seemed to have lost communications with the others, and was wondering if you could tell me anything about this," The brit-sounding voice sounded concerned.

"Oh right... you haven't heard yet..." she sighed, "Where do I begin?"

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat gets a call back from Secretary Keller and is informed that they've found someone by the name "Brett Craft". But for some reason the only address they've found is out in the middle of nowhere. What reason could there possibly be for someone living so far out of the way of society? Cat decides to take a trip out there on her own, but what awaits her? And who's going to watch over the Autobots while she's gone?


	15. Running out of Time

Hey guys! I know, it's insane that I'm updating again so soon, but I've been trying to balance out what I want to do and what I have to do on the side of everything else. This next update has, once again, had no time to be wrung through the old spell checker so... be kind...

AccessBlade: Sounds awesome! I love inspiring people! Hope to see your inspiration at work! gleams

GrimlockX4: Yeah, I knew that Cat would have a few different reactions, but I wasn't feeling very violent at the time, so I figured Cat could be nice and not make the poor guys feel human pain.

Nola1: I had thought of that a while ago, and maybe, just maybe there will be a hint of a little hotness between Cat and one of the guys (I'm so spoiling everything) but I'm mainly going to stick to my original plan, which will be just after this little problem is taken care of.

FORD B: Yeah, but it's kind of what I'd like to think is true with us. Like when we're constantly checking our email to see if there's a new review in our mailbox (wink) I figured that cutting the guys from the internet would be just the same. All of a sudden they're clueless. And of course, you never really know what's going to be made out of this, so Wheeljack might find something else to do with his time (another wink).

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just Cat, Five and a little puppy named Rotten.

--

Cat sighed. Finally, she had managed to get the new human versions of the Autobots to sleep. She had the medical bay staff set up cots so that they could sleep near their original forms. The room was dim and quiet, with the slight humming of their shells still working. Cat had a time just trying to convince them that they would, in fact, wake up after a few hours of sleep.

-Flashback-

"So... We can't control when we sleep?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Well, not exactly. Look, all you have to do is lay down and close your eyes. You'll fall asleep on your own and in a few hours you'll wake up and you won't feel as tired as you do now," Cat watched as some of them yawned in exhaustion. She wanted to sleep just as badly as they did, but she wanted to make sure that they slept themselves.

"How do we wake ourselves?" Wheeljack asked.

"You'll wake up in a few hours, trust me," Cat yawned as well, "_You_ tell them Ratch... I'm shot for the day..."

-End Flashback-

Cat slowly and quietly exited the med bay so as not to wake any of them. She needed to get back and take Rotten out anyway, and she couldn't watch her friends all night. They had the medical staff to watch over them for a few hours. Arriving to her apartment, the first thing she did was take Rotten out, and then come back and put him in his kennel and hit the sack.

It wasn't more than two hours before the cell phone charging next to her bed jingled. Cat slowly woke up and and absent-mindedly reached over, grabbing the phone.

"-Lo?" Cat asked, still drunk with sleep.

"Catherine Andrews?" a deep male voice asked.

"Hmm?" was the only thing that came out of Cat's mouth.

"My name is Stan Edward, I've been employed by Secretary Keller to find some information for you," the man explained first.

"Infor... Information?" Cat sat up in her bed her mind suddenly coming to her senses.

"Yes. I have found information on Brett Craft for you. Is this a good time for you to speak?" Stan asked.

"Um, yeah jus... Just give me a second here to wake up..." Cat grumbled as she got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, surprising Rotten who was nearly half asleep himself.

Cat sat the phone down for a few seconds while she turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face. She turned the faucet back off and wiped her face off with a towel, and picked the phone back up.

"All right, go ahead," Cat said as she sat down at the kitchen table and yawned.

"Brett Craft was the one and only creator for that projection system. Apparently he was employed by Sector Eleven, and when the two sections were disbanded he and his family moved out of state," he explained.

"How far out of state?" Cat asked.

--

"Absolutely not," Ratchet disagreed.

Early that morning after the Autobots had awoken from their first night of human sleep, Cat had called for a meeting to inform them of the newest information.

"Why not?!" Cat wasn't sure why anyone would disagree with such a simple plan.

"Cat," Optimus began, "If you do this, then you'll be completely unprotected. Not only have we already had an encounter with Frenzy, but if you should run into him and Barricade, then we will be powerless to help you."

"You should tell Keller to send someone to do this instead of going yourself," Prowl suggested.

"I can do this myself. It's only about a day's drive, and if I have any problems I'll call for Bee, who should be arriving here anytime now," Cat looked to her watch.

"Bumblebee is coming?" Jazz asked.

Cat smiled, "Yep! I got him to come and watch you guys while I go take care of this."

"What's Sam doing for transportation?" Ironhide raised an eyebrow.

-Back in Tranquility-

"Mikaela! Mikaela, Sam's here!" a grouchy woman's voice shouted.

"I think I'd know the sound of his car by now mo-" Mikaela was sure that it couldn't possibly be true but as she looked out of her bedroom window she saw Sams' moms old buick puttering and backfiring it's way down the alley behind her apartment.

"Oh my god..." Mikaela's mouth was nearly to the floor.

-Back to the Dam-

"It doesn't matter," Cat demanded, "Bumblebee agreed that he needed to be here to make sure you guys are fully taken care of while I'm away."

"Who says you're going?" Ratchet insisted.

Cat sighed and replied, "I have to go. If I don't leave right away, then our chances of turning you guys to normal again are going to be slim to none," she looked to Optimus' blue-eyed human form, "Just try and tell me that I'm wrong."

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Everyone looked as though they had an opinion, but they knew that only one counted at the moment. Cat was almost sure that she'd have to go against direct orders in order to go, but the risk was well worth trying to fix her friends.

Optimus sighed, "And where, exactly, is this place that's a days journey?"

Cat let a smile smile tug at the sides of her mouth, "It's a few miles west of Carlsbad New Mexico. I'd be back before tomorrow night at the latest."

"And if you can't get any answers out of this man?" the leader had to ask.

Cat sighed and replied, "Ratch and Jack are going to have to keep working here, of course. We have to make sure that we cover all of our bases. But this could be the one chance to fix our little problem. You guys may not be able to go, but I can."

Optimus couldn't help but look around at the new faces of his men. They were a bit half and half. Some unsure of this new plan, others were sure that they didn't want to stay human forever. He turned and looked to Cat with a new determined look on his face.

"You have my permission," he nodded.

Cat smirked, "Not that I needed it. I was going to go, whether or not you said I could." She ran off towards her apartment.

"Is that a good idea, Optimus? She'll be completely unguarded. Even the aid of the American Military would be better than sending her alone," Prowl asked.

"I understand the concern, but she's right... She's the only one that we can be sure will get the job done fast. Even the american government wouldn't be able to answer these questions as quickly as Cat can," the leader shrugged and sat down at the table, feeling torn between sending one of his own out, and keeping them safe.

"Optimus," Ratchet began, "I'm all for us returning to our normal states, but one thing concerns me most of all."

"What is it?" Wheeljack asked.

"We _still_ haven't a clue as to what it was that caused her to create that surge that overtook the Dam over a month ago. What if sending her out there causes a reaction that sets her off and she inadvertantly destroys something? She could take out an entire city of humans!" the medic reasoned.

"It's a chance we'll have to take... And let's hope that we haven't made a mistake..."

--

Cat made a B-line for her apartment to grab her riding gear. On her way she nearly ran into Bumblebee.

"Oh, Bee! Good to see you!" Cat smiled.

Bumblebee just looked down at the girl, giving her a concerned expression.

"They're fine for now. I'm just on my way out so I can find this Brett guy," she pointed down the hallway to the conference room, "They're in there, and I'm on my way out. Good luck!"

Cat ran off to her room in a flash, leaving Bumblebee to take care of everything. As he looked to walk into the conference room, the human form of Wheeljack walked out. He looked up to the yellow mech with an almost startled look on his face.

"Oh! Hello Bumblebee! Catherine informed us, just now, that you would be coming to help us out!" Bee nodded, "Then perhaps after this little fiasco, we should look into building you your own hologram!"

"Er... No thanks..."

--

Cat was in the garage zipping up her jacket and undoing the straps on her helmet, having already thrown her backpack on, which was full of water bottles and snacks. She was just about to set off when she heard the loud 'booms' of a certain yellow mech approaching. She looked up to his azure optics as he approached.

"Oh, hey buddy. I was just about to leave," Cat tucked her cell phone and a map into one of the zipped pockets of the jacket.

"Cat... Perhaps I should go with you," Bumblebee said quietly.

Cat looked up to the yellow mech and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Everyone's concerned that this idea may be a little pre-emptive..." he replied.

Cat gave a scowl, "And what's the other idea?"

"..."

"Exactly. We don't have any other plan. This guy could give us the answers that we need, and we don't have much time before it's too late. You need to stay here and watch over them... and answer every question they have..." Cat said as she put her helmet on. She looked up at Bee and saw the worried gaze that was fixed upon her.

Cat sighed and said, "Look, how about this. If I don't call you by ten o'clock tonight, then you can send the troops in after me."

Bumblebee considered her for a moment before he nodded, "Just watch out for yourself, and call us if you need anything," he encouraged.

"I'm sure I'll get there in time, Bee. Don't you worry about a thing," Cat said as she started up the small, but powerful, engine to her Hyabusa and slowly made her way out of the garage and into the early morning desert sun.

--

Cat had seemed very sure of herself in front of her friends, but really she was quite angry. She could nearly feel her blood boil at the idea of them not having faith in her abilities to take care of herself.

"I know I'm not as strong or as fast as I used to be, but they could stop giving me so much crap about it... I'm not a damn invalid. I admit, I'm not ready for a battle with someone like Barricade, but I'm not going to hide under a rock. I don't intend on staying weak for long!" She sped up, going much faster than the intended speed limits. Cat had a few hours drive ahead of her, and she wasn't planning on stopping for anything other than to refuel the bike.

--

Bumblebee watched as Cat took off, leaving him very sure that she was more upset that she appeared to be.

"Couldn't get her to go with the idea of you going either, could ya Bee?" the cheerful form of Jazz walked up next to the tall, yellow mech.

Bumblebee just shook his head at his, now, much shorter friend.

"Ah, don't ya worry bout her. That girl may be a bit foolhardy, but when she needs it, she's got the stuff that a true Autobot fighter is made out of. She knows we mean well, she's jes a little upset with us right now. She'll get over it," he put his hands into the pockets of his jeans and smiled warmly up to his friend.

"Now," Jazz started, "We've been goin' crazy tryin' to figure out things about these human bodies. And we had some questions we were hopin' that you havin' the internet and all could help us answer them."

Bee just looked down at Jazz with one of those 'uh oh' looks on his face. As if maybe he was beginning to think that he was getting himself into something he should've just stayed away from.

--

Cat had been traveling all day. It was late afternoon before she finally made it to... Well she was going to stop and find out. She found a small gas station in the middle of nowhere, and pulled in. The gas pumps were that of the old ones made back in the fifties. They had the round, bubble-like globes on top, and the bodies were curved. Cat stopped next to one of the pumps and shut off the engine to her bike. The sun was blazing without mercy. Cat felt as if she were in a steam chamber just inside her rider's jacket, even with the air ports unzipped and open to allow air to breathe through the jacket. She pulled off her helmet and threw on a pair of sunglasses, taking out her map and looking it over carefully.

"I passed Alamogordo nearly a half an hour ago and took those back roads thinking that I saw some sort of back way to this guy's house... Where the hell am I now?" Cat mumbled to herself.

She pulled out her cellular phone to see if she could access the navigation tools. She opened the flip phone and growled even more.

No signal.

No signal, of course, equals no navigation.

"Shit!" Cat yelled tucking the phone back into her pocket.

"Somethin' I can help ya with?" a young man stepped out from the small station. His face was thin, and he was covered in grease and dirt. It was obvious to Cat that this man hadn't showered in days.

"Uh... Yeah, maybe you can... Where the hell am I?" Cat asked.

The man chuckled a little and strut across the small area between him and Cat, walking towards her, "Why you've hit Timberon, little lady."

Cat growled at the use of that term, "I'm looking for a place out near Carlsbad. Can you tell me the best way to get there from here?"

"Sure could," the man smirked.

"...That would be the hint where you tell me where it is that I need to go..." Cat narrowed her covered eyes at the boy.

"Well that puts us both in a bad position. See, this here station don't quite make the same kind of profit it used ta... It'd be mighty nice of ya to give what ya could," he leaned against the nearest pump to Cat and crossed his arms.

"...Of course... I need to buy gas and water anyway, will that do?" Cat reached in and grabbed her slim cardholder, grabbing her debit card.

The man laughed, "You've never been round here have ya?"

"I suppose me asking for directions wasn't enough of a clue?" Cat asked with a sarcastic smile.

"We don't take none of those things here. Just cold hard cash," he smirked even more.

Cat sighed and stuffed her card back into the card holder, then pulled out a thicker wallet. She pulled out four twenty dollar bills. The man's eyes widened with glee. He reached out to take them Cat pulled back.

"Ah, information first, gratuity later. Talk," she said gruffly.

"What's the address?" he asked, his smirk suddenly disappearing.

Cat looked to the map that she had set out in front of her and pointed to the hand-written address which was written near the edge of the crumpled paper.

The man didn't even bother to stop himself from showing fear. His eyes strayed back up to Cat's face as he said, "You got the wrong place..."

Cat didn't like this answer and asked, "And how's that?"

"That's the one place a girl like you shouldn't be going to!" he scorned.

Cat grinned and took one of the twenty dollar bills and stuffed it back into her wallet, "Wrong answer number one. Now, tell me where it is."

The man looked astonished that Cat would play a game like that on him, "That ain't fair!"

Cat slipped her fingers across the next twenty bill as if showing that it would be the next to go.

"I.. Uh... All.. All right! I'll tell ya! Just take that service road there and follow it for an hour. You'll know that place when you see it!" he was practically begging like a poodle on its hind legs would for a treat.

"I'll need some of that in gas as well," Cat said as she started folding the map.

The man nodded and reached over to the top of the gas tank of the bike, about to uncap it so he could insert the fuel nozzle. He didn't get more than an inch away from the cap before Cat caugh his wrist and said, "No one touches the bike."

The man actually grinned instead of looking upset and said, "The woman knows how she wants things done."

Cat decided that she had had enough of this guy and just ever so slightly pulled her sunglasses down her nose, looking into the man's eyes.

"And don't you forget it," she winked her yellow eye, startling the man so much that he scrambled back into the gas station, where he grabbed two ice cold bottles of water from a large refrigerator. He walked back out to her and reached across to her as far as he could without actually getting near her.

"H-Here... T-t-take it!" Cat grinned and took the water from him. The man then ran into his gas station and slammed the door behind him. He looked out and watched her from the window with a careful glare.

Cat smirked as she pumped the gas herself and then threw on her helmet once again, starting up the bike and taking off, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.

--

"An hour my ass!" Cat was furious. She had traveled until nightfall and still had not gotten to her destination. And this worried her. Not only was she running late, which could delay solving their little problem, but just fourty-five minutes from now, she had promised that she would call Bumblebee to let him know that she had arrived safely, and since she didn't have a working phone, and she hadn't seen a gas station since Timberon, she was beginning to worry that she'd see the little light on the tracking device, which was welded to the inner workings of her false right arm, blink. Blinking, of course, indicating that someone would have activated the device and that a whole world of trouble would be on her tail within minutes.

Cat continued her driving through the hilly cliffsides. The roads had turned from pavement into rocky and dusty gravel trails. She was beginning to grow weary of trying to avoid some of the bigger rocks that could easily wipe out her bike, or from going too fast and sliding through the sands as if she were going to hydroplane. She was about to give up and stop to wait for the scouts sent out after her, when she saw something in the distance. Amidst the blanket of darkness that she was traveling through, she saw a blinding white spotlight, which seemed to be attached to a police cruiser. As she grew closer, she saw that the police light was pointed at an entrance gate. The gate was made up of black, rusty steel bars, with bright silver chains keeping them closed. There were signs all over the gate that read such things as "WARNING" or "DO NOT ENTER". One sign even read "TRESPASSERS WILL NOT LIVE TO BE PROSECUTED".

Cat slowed down and realized that there were two local police officers at the gate as well, looking rather frustrated. She stopped in the rocky drive just behind the police cruiser and looked into the faces of the confused officers'.

Pulling off her helmet Cat asked, "Is there a problem here?"

The first officer approached her. He was older with a gray,stubbly beard, a beer belly, and his hair was splotchy black in some places, but mostly dark gray. He walked over to Cat, who was still sitting on the seat of her bike.

"You know who lives here?" he asked in a western drawl, putting one hand on his hip, and the other on his gun holster.

Cat pulled out a slip of paper that she had also written the destination address down on and took a look at it. Then looking across the drive, she saw an old, dented and dusty mailbox that had the same address written on it.

"Not personally, but I'm actually here looking for him. I was told that this is the address where I could reach someone named Brett Craft. Is this information right?" Cat asked.

"That'd be the one..." he said with a frown.

Cat looked from the two officers to the gate and asked, "Are you looking for him as well?"

"We got a complaint from some travelers that someone threatened them when they stopped to ask for directions," the younger officer spoke, putting his fingers through his slicked back blonde hair looking frustrated.

Neither the sky blue eyes of the young officer or the light gray eyes of the older one left Cat for a second. She knew that look of untrustworthy stares.

Cat rolled her eyes and looked towards the chained gates, "Can't get in?"

The two officers looked back towards the gates as well.

"We were about to request some tools to take them chains off so we could investigate further," the older one grouched.

Cat smirked, "Who needs tools?"

She walked over to the gate and grabbed the chains with her right hand, and with a swift tug, the chains fell apart in her hands and she dropped them to the ground, looking back at the two men.

"Shall we?" she asked as she opened one side of the gates and remounted on her motorcycle, starting the engine and rolling through in front of the police cruiser.

"How the hell did she do that?" the younger officer asked his superior.

"Dunno... But we're in and that's all that matters..." he growled as they quickly piled into the cruiser, driving slowly through the open gate.

What Cat and the two officers failed to notice was a small perimeter alarm blinking off in the distance.

Someone was watching.

--

Cat pulled up to within about a hundred feet from the two-story brick house. The windows were darkened with the exception of one of the ground level windows. A small flickering light was the only thing that could be seen from behind the white curtains. Cat shut off her bike and dismounted from it, taking in a short surveillance of the area just before the police cruiser pulled up. The two officers got out of their car and watched Cat as she was taking in the entire area, as if recording everything.

The younger officer walked forward and looked around himself before Cat stopped him, throwing her arm in front of his chest roughly.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you..." Cat said in a low tone of voice.

"Why's that?" he asked, annoyed that his duties were impeded by some unknown girl.

Cat pointed just in front of them to where it looked as if a shadow of a person was standing not more than fifty feet or so away. The shadow was completely still, as if expecting someone to come forward.

"There's our man!" the older officer pulled up his equipment belt and began to walk forward as well before Cat stopped him.

"Don't!" she growled, stopping the old man in his tracks.

"What's the problem?" he asked gruffly.

Cat's left eye examined the shadow. Her right eye could see it just as easily as the other two human's eyes could, but her left eye couldn't pick up any energy signature that any normal human would give off.

"It's not what you think it is... You see that down there?" she pointed down to the ground just about a foot in front of them where it looked as though a small line of some sort of red reflectors were, "We're just outside of a dangerous perimeter. It'd be best if you didn't go past those."

"What's that supposta mean? Looks like a man over there to me!" the older police officer growled.

Cat looked along the ground for a moment and then found a long, skinny branch. She picked it up and stepped forward, just barely putting the branch more than a few inches over the line. Not more than a second after doing this, the end of the branch that was over the line of reflectors flew off in a clean cut, coming back and hitting the younger officer in the stomach, causing him to double over for several seconds.

Cat turned her head to the old man and asked, "Still look like an ordinary man over there, Sherlock?"

She threw down the branch and looked back towards the shadow figure, which seemed to multiply right before their eyes, "I don't know what you boys think that you're getting into, but it's probably best that you just report to your boss that no one was home and call it a night... This isn't a place for any ordinary person."

"We came here to find out who was makin' threats, and that's what we're gonna do!" the older officer barked.

Cat shrugged and replied, "Suit yourself. Just don't get in my way."

The two officers glared at Cat as she took her rider's gloves off, then unzipped her jacket and threw it on the seat of her bike. She couldn't help but notice the sudden change of expression on the two mens faces. She looked to her right arm, which gleamed under the bright moon light.

"Don't ask. Under official government orders, it's none of your business," she turned back towards the line of reflectors, "This is something I have experience with, so stay back."

Cat stepped just inside of the reflectors where she became completely fixed on everything around her. If fighting these things were the only way to get to this Craft guy, she'd just have to pull up her sleeves and do it. Besides, she knew what this was.

"Are you crazy?!" the younger officer shouted.

Cat felt a stray wind come across her right cheek. She brought her right arm up and blocked an incoming strike from a shadow, the two officers gasping at once, startled that the shadow had appeared that close to them.

Cat threw off the blow from the shadow and jumped towards it, throwing a hard punch with her left fist, the shadow easily dodged it and stopped off to the side of Cat, kicking her which sent her into a tree. She immediately got up and dodged a head shot from the shadow, which tore into the tree, leaving a gaping hole.

Cat noticed the hole and thought to herself, "The guys would kill me if they knew I was doing this without the safety programs..."

She turned and saw the shadow coming at her again, but this time she ran straight into the shadow, dodging the strike from it, but bringing up her right arm with a strong uppercut, sending it flying several feet away from her and disappearing.

"She did it!" The younger man cheered.

Cat frowned, "It's not over yet..."

Shadows began appearing by the dozens, surrounding Cat in what was most likely an attempt to overpower her with every arsenal possible.

Cat looked to her watch. It was nine forty-five and her time frame was coming close to an end. She knew that her friends were the type to be on time for everything, and this was going to be a close call if nothing else.

"As much as I wish I could have the time to stay and play, I need to make a phone call and soon. So come at me with all you've got!" Cat shouted.

The shadows came at her all at once.

--

Bumblebee checked his internal chronometer again. Two minutes until ten, and still no notification.

"Bumblebee?" a voice brought the mech to look down at the human form of Ironhide.

"Ironhide, you're supposed to be beginning your recharge with the others. Is something the matter?" Bumblebee asked.

"It's not really as important as what's got you in a rift. Something botherin' ya?" the masculine form crossed his arms and looked up at the yellow mech.

"I was debating on whether or not to take Cat's word and send out a scout unit for her. She had promised to call before ten and it's nearly that time..."

"Take her word then. If Cat says that she'll call, she'll call. If she hasn't, then something's gone wrong," Hide's gruff voice encouraged.

Bumblebee merely nodded and was about to go and activate Cat's Global Position Sensor when he stopped and reguarded Ironhide for a moment.

"Wasn't there something you needed?"

Ironhide reached an arm behind his head as if he were only reluctant to say what he wanted to, but he sighed and brought a hand over to the opposite shoulder, pulling up the sleeve a few inches.

"Those fraggin' twins were causing trouble, and I got in a bit of a scuffle with em... I'm not sure what to make of what I've done to this body, and was hoping you could tell me," he said as he showed his concern.

Bumblebee's sky blue optics widened when he saw it.

"Ironhide... You're _bleeding_ human blood! The matter converters are speeding up the process!"

--

Well, I think that was enough of a Chapter Teaser really.

Will Cat come out of battle unharmed? Will her efforts to save the Autobots from turning completely into humans be shattered by the speeding process?

Tell me what you think!


	16. Running out of Time Part 2

Hey guys! Thank you for all of your support! I appreciate every bit of it! On a different note, I also love this new Reader Traffic thing, I had no idea that there were readers from all over the world! That's so cool! Anyway, to the reviewers:

Nola1: I'm definitely going to keep writing! I read a quote somewhere, I think it was on facebook: Fanfiction; because it's cheaper than therapy. I loved it so I put it on my facebook page!

GrimlockX4: I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens, huh? (wink) Thank you so much for the support!

FORDB: Thank you for the tremendous support! Yeah, I'm sure that the guys definitely have a better understanding of human qualities. Though I'm sure there will always be an embarassing question or two that will come up once and a while! I know, I need to kick things up a notch, and hopefully the next update will be full of akward moments!

So anyway, this one hasn't been wrung through the old spell checker either, so please be kind (heart)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any other copyrighted person place or thing... or apparently any copyrighted noun... However I do own Cat, Five, Rotten, and any other made-up person not in the theatres. I think that about covers it.

--

Cat was thrown outside of the line of reflectors once again, hitting the round rolling and coming to a stop laying on her back. She took a moment to catch her breath, her face was covered in sweat and dirt, as well as a large gash above her left eyebrow. Two shadows loomed over Cat as she looked up to see the two officers standing over her.

"You don't seem to be getting anywhere..." the older one snorted with amusement.

Cat growled and stood back up, she stomped off towards the area where the shadows seemed to stand in waiting. Before Cat stepped over the line she suddenly stopped, looking along the ground where the reflectors were. The two officers walked up behind her, wondering what she was looking for.

"Something wrong?" the younger one asked.

"I'm doing this all wrong..." she began, "He's using them to protect his property, to ensure that no one steps foot in his house. But the projectors won't be inside the battleground..."

The officers looked to each other in confusion, then back to Cat.

"How would you know so much about this place?" the old man asked.

Cat didn't look back to them when she replied, "Also none of your business."

He pulled up on his belt again, giving a strange grunt and walking up to Cat putting a hand on her shoulder tightly and turning her towards him, pointing a finger in her face.

"I don't care if ya can pull apart unbreakable chains, or fight... whatever those are! When you're in _my_ territory, you're under _my_authority, and you'll answer ta me the same way every un else does!" His unshaven stubbly face was intense with fury.

Cat shook the man's grip from her shoulder and grabbed the finger that he held in front of her, squeezing tight, threatening to break it right off of his hand.

"Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once... I _despise_humans, and I'm not afraid to do with one as I please. Not only that, but I'm under special authority that you'll never even know about. Now, you stand back and let me handle the big bad shadows, or the only thing that you'll be head cop of is the intensive care unit..." letting go of the old man's finger, the man grabbed at his phalangal and cradled it, the younger one approached.

The young officer knew that as far as he was concerned, this woman could tear him apart if he provoked her long enough. So he focused on what was at hand.

"So these 'projectors' that you're talking about, where are they?" he asked.

Cat was already scanning the area, looking for the boundaries, "They're hidden outside the confines of these reflectors," she turned to him and asked, "Do you have a flashlight?" he nodded, "Go that direction and make sure to follow the reflectors carefully. Keep an eye out for a large black box object. It could be up in some trees, in large bushes or in tall grass."

Cat started walking the opposite direction, watching where the line of reflectors were leading. The older man stood all the way up and turned towards the girl. He pulled out his small calibur revolver and was about to pull back the hammer and shoot when the younger one grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"What are you doing?!" he asked, struggling to hold the old man's arm back.

"No one man-handles me and gets away with it!" the old grouch replied, trying to shake off his friend.

"Are you out of your mind?! We need her!" he took the weapon from the old man and said in a loud whisper, "There's no way that we can take these things out by ourselves, and this woman seems to have an idea of what to do!"

"I don't care! No one who has ever stood up to me has lived ta tell about it!" the old man spat as he spoke he was so enraged.

The younger man handed back the gun and said softly, "We'll kill her after we get in the house... For now, we have a job to do..."

The old man smiled and took back his gun, and the two set off the opposite direction from Cat, following the reflectors as well.

--

"I don't know what to tell you, exactly," Doctor Peterson was about to leave the facility for home when he was caught by a worry stricken Bumblebee, who showed him the minor cut on Ironhide's arm, "I can fix the cut easy, no problem. But as for your question regarding whether or not the converters are speeding up the process, I wouldn't have a clue. That's a question better left for Ratchet or Wheeljack, and they're asleep," he explained as he put a bandaid over Ironhide's cut.

"Have they checked the converters recently?" Bumblebee asked.

"I imagine that they have. They've been working non-stop on this from the moment they wake until they're too exhausted to continue anymore," Peterson replied, "which didn't seem to take long. I've noticed that some of them wake up looking refreshed as any other human would, but it only takes a few hours for them to wear down to the point of looking as if they've been up for days at a time."

Even though he had looked over the schematics, unless he had been kept up to date on where the progress was made on, he would have no way of knowing what was really happening with the converters. Surely, there must have been a way to slow this down...

"Bumblebee," Ironhide's voice broke him out of his thoughts, "Our best bet is still out there, and she hasn't called."

The yellow mech put aside his worries for the converter crisis as he nodded at the muscular form of Ironhide, who looked as though he was in need of rest.

"I'll check her status, and you go and recharge," he ordered.

Oddly enough, Ironhide smirked and nodded in agreement, heading for the part of the med bay where the others were also sleeping on their individual cots.

Peterson watched as Ironhide left and then looked up to Bumblebee and asked, "Who hasn't called?"

"Cat promised that if nothing had gone awry, that she would call before ten this evening," checking his internal chronometer, he realized that he was thirty minutes behind, "so I need to activate the global position sensor that she has on her to see where she is, and try to contact her myself."

"I had no idea that she was searching for a solution. Where did she go?" Peterson asked as he followed Bumblebee to Ratchet's mainframe computer.

"New Mexico. Apparently there is a scientist there who had a hand in building the projection systems, and Cat believes that he might know the answer to some of our questions," Bumblebee answered.

Peterson watched as the mech brought the gps's system up and began punching in the access codes in, "What happens if you can't contact her?"

"Then I wake Optimus and have him authorize sending some of the military groups in after her," he said flatly.

--

Cat knew that the land that this house was on was quite large, but she didn't think it was_ that_large. She looked to her watch and saw that it was already a quarter past ten. She grimaced and reached over to her right arm and opened one of the several small panels on her forearm. The GPS light was dark, which meant that no one had activated it yet.

"That's a bit surprising..." Cat said to herself as she closed the panel and began following the reflectors again.

After traveling for such a long time upon the sandy dirt hills, Cat found a suspicious area. She bent down and surveyed the ground, looking from the pathway onto the more rugged and somewhat grassy portions of the ground, which laid right just a foot away from the relfectors. As she leaned down further to lightly wisk her hand over a small crack in the ground, the ground rose beneath her which knocked her off balance and sent her over a platform that had risen from where she stood. She landed on the ground with a hard thud, but quickly recovered, standing in a defensive position.

The platform rose to about twelve foot. A light shot out from the bulky top to it as dirt and sand still trickled off of the platform like droplets of water. Cat watched where the light was sent to and saw several shadows now standing just a few feet inside the battleground.

And then she smirked.

"Well, well. Look what I've found," Cat walked over to the pole that the platform had been lifted up on, and looked back down to the ground. A Metal plate was at the base of the pole, covering the empty space left by the platform. Cat got a closer look at it and saw a small hole in the plate. She used her left eye to try and see how deep the lift went down, but surmised that there was no passageway beneath it that could take her to the dwelling.

"I suppose that means that this can just be destroyed," Cat decided as she brought back her right fist and shot it towards the pole, landing a crushing blow to it, knocking it completely over, the projector hitting the ground and smashing into a thousand little pieces.

"Now to find the rest."

--

Several computer monitors were the only thing lighting a small basement room. On all of the screens were security monitors, covering every square inch of a large amount of property. One such monitor had the silhoette of a human sitting in front of it, the human's attention focused completely on it's contents.

"Could it be possible?..."

The monitor closed in on it's subject which was the determined and smirking face of Cat as she watched the projector fall to it's doom.

"It's... It's one of them! But how?!"

--

In all Cat had destroyed three projectors and had nearly made a full round of the reflectors. Oddly enough, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of those officers as she made her way towards the entrance once more.

"Hmmm... Well I'm not waiting on them. Maybe they've decided to chicken out. I don't see their car anymore..." Cat shrugged and looked around for a moment, focusing back on whether or not she had destroyed all of the projectors.

"I suppose there's only one way to find out," she stepped up to the line of reflectors and looked around. She didn't see one single sign of a shadow in sight. Neither her human vision, or her specialized lenses could see them.

Stepping onto the battlegrounds, Cat slowly made her way in, taking slow and quiet steps. This way she could hear anything approaching her better and react faster. She approached the house closer and closer. The only thing that Cat could make out in the distance was a few branches swaying in a light breeze. As she was now only a foot away from the front door of the house, Cat's instincts couldn't help but over take her. _Something_ was there. As Cat finally reached out to touch the doorknob, her eyes strayed and caught something. In the reflection of the glass in the storm door, Cat could see a shadow just directly behind her. Her eyes widened, as she knew that she didn't have any time to turn and deflect it's attack. As she did her best to turn, she could almost feel the warmth of the shadow prick at her skin before there was a single gunshot.

And the shadow disappeared right in front of her face.

Cat looked around frantically, trying to see if it had moved to another blindspot, but she quickly spotted the police cruiser approaching, the younger officer hanging out of the passenger side window, his shotgun lowering. The two got out of the cruiser almost as soon as it came to a stop.

"You should always watch your back," the younger man smirked.

Cat scoffed, bordering on wanting to lecture him about how much more she knew about how to watch her back, but decided that she was busy with something else. She turned back towards the front door and laid her hands on the doorhandle of the storm door, and practically threw it off of it's hinges as she swung it open. However, before she could even lay a single finger on the wooden door's rusty handle, the door swung open from the inside.

Cat was face to face with a male figure. He had messy brown hair down to the level of his dark brown eyes. He was perhaps a half a foot taller than Cat herself. He was wearing a tight red t-shirt which had holes and grease stains on them; as well as a torn denim jeans. His face was thin and pale, as if he had barely eaten anything in weeks.

There was a long silence before Cat finally spoke first, "Brett Craft?"

The man nodded, his eyes studying her, making her feel somewhat like she was being scanned over and over again.

"What do you want?" he asked, suddenly noticing the two police officers behind Cat.

Cat smirked and replied, "We have some things to discuss..."

Brett had no choice but to let the three in. He stepped back into the house, turning his back to the three while they entered.

"I don't know what you would need to discuss with me... I'm just out here on this piece of property by myself, not hurting anyone," he growled.

"Oh, I think you know exactly why I'm here..." Cat replied back with a snarl.

Brett turned back to Cat and the officers but was stunned to see the two in uniform suddenly pointing their revolvers at Cat's head.

Cat looked back to the old man out of the side of her eye and then looked back to Brett.

"Friends of yours?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"...I was just about to ask you the same thing..." he shrugged.

Cat didn't move an inch. Fast, though she was, the guns weren't even an inch from her skull.

"Now you listen to us... We're not as we appear to be. We're here for one thing, and one thing only," the young man's voice was stern and sure.

"Well then? What do _you_ want?" Brett asked, his hands up in the 'I give up' fashion.

"We're here under the orders of a very special group. A group that's been watching you... One that was believed to have been disbanded just a few months ago," the young man explained.

Cat's heart jumped into her throat. It couldn't be... could it?

"There's only one group that I could imagine would be watching me closely... And that's sector eleven..." Brett narrowed his eyes.

Cat's eyes widened in shock. She could hear the chuckles and grunts behind her from the "officers".

"Very good. You haven't lost your touch, I see," the sector eleven operative replied.

"So then we're all here..." Cat growled, her anger building up more and more. She could feel it rushing through her body in a way that made her heart pound.

Brett and the other two looked to Cat with questioning looks.

"What'r ya talkin' about?" the old man asked.

"My name is Catherine Andrews... But the identity given to me while I was growing up was..." she gritted her teeth, "Project Seven!"

Brett's eyes widened in sudden realization, as well as the other two.

"So it's true then... One of you _has_ survived," Brett said aloud in an astonished tone, "But how?"

"None of your business!" she spat.

The younger operative behind her laughed obnoxiously and said, "Guess that means we've got _two_ things coming with us tonight! I should have known what you were! Oh yes, our bosses will be quite pleased with the bounty that we'll return with."

"What makes you think that I'd _ever_ go anywhere with you!" Cat demanded.

She heard the hammer of a revolver click into place.

"I think we all know who has the upperhand here..." the younger man said in a loud whisper.

--

Bumblebee had just finished imputing the final codes into the mainframe for Cat's sensor unit, when he stopped. Peterson looked up to him to see the mech standing completely still for a moment.

"Something the matter?" the physician asked.

"I'm making one last attempt to contact Cat through her cellular device. If I can't get through, then I wake Optimus..."

It only took a few moments and several failed attempts to reach Cat's cell phone through Bumblebee's communication circuits before he ended the attempts, and activated the Global Positioning Sensor. The computer screen "beeped" as it positioned it's satellites to find the right frequency. It took just a few seconds before the sensor was found.

"Watch this to see if there are any changes while I get Optimus," the yellow mech quickly made his way to the room where the others slept.

--

Cat could have screamed with fury, but before she could respond her right arm suddenly made several "beeps". Everyone in the room focused on her once more.

"What's that?!" the older man asked.

Cat smirked dangerously as she replied, "My lifeline..."

The two sector eleven operatives looked to each other with confused looks before looking back to Cat.

"It shouldn't be too long before the U.S. military is on the front lawn," Cat chuckled.

"Then I guess that doesn't leave us much time..." the younger man spoke as he stepped around Cat and walking over to Brett.

"I need everything you have from specs to blueprints, as well as any kind of disks or jump drives that have data on all of the projects that you've ever worked on while employed with sector eleven," he waved the gun towards the direction of the next room, giving silent gestures to lead him where he needed to go.

"Don't do it..." Cat growled.

Brett and the young operative looked at Cat. She felt the old man grab the back of her shirt and ball it up in his fist.

"You're in no position to be barkin' orders girl..."

"Yes, stay quiet Seven. We'll have you taken care of just as soon as we collect what we were originally coming here for," the younger one grinned.

That was it.

Cat's anger suddenly rose within her again. Her left eye dialated until it was completely black. The younger man stood in front of Brett as they both watched Cat's behavior suddenly turn from docile to dangerous.

"Let me kill her now!" the old man yelled just before Cat suddenly turned on him, her shirt tearing, leaving only what was in his hand left.

She grabbed the gun at lightning quick speeds and ripped it out of his hands, throwing to the ground. She gripped his wrist with her left hand and his elbow with her right hand, turning his arm around his back and using him as a shield from the possible shots from the other man. While staring down Brett and the other, she easily broke both the old man's wrist and elbow, twisting his arm around twice with a growing strength, never taking her glaring eyes off of the sector eleven operative.

The old man screeched in agony, and the younger one quickly walked forward, preparing to take action against Cat. However, before he could confront her, the pained figure of the old man was suddenly thrown at him, causing him to drop his weapon as well as they both careened into the wall, breaking a large hanging mirror as well as knocking over a tall stand in which a planter sat upon it. After which, they hit the ground, both knocked unconscious.

Cat stood still, her eyes on the two on the floor, obviously not feeling as though Brett Craft was a threat to her. He walked slowly and carefully over to the two men and stared down at them, shaking his head.

"You broke my mirror..." he smirked and looked up to her, "That can't be very good luck..."

Cat scoffed and replied, "It couldn't be any worse than what I've had so far..." her left eye's lens closed, and it's normal yellow hue returned.

"Amazing..." Brett thought aloud as he stared at the girl.

"That's not the word that I would use to describe a lifetime of pain..." Cat huffed.

"No... I suppose it wouldn't..." Brett replied softly.

Cat looked back to the men before her mind shifted gears and went back to the sensor in her arm. She looked up to Brett and asked, "Do you have a land line here?"

Brett nodded.

"I need to make a quick call before the government really _is_ on your front lawn," she demanded.

"U-uh yeah... Yeah it's j-just in the other room," he pointed her in the right direction.

--

Bumblebee's communication circuitry picked up an incoming call.

-Bumblebee?- Cat asked, unsure if the connection was made.

-Cat! I see that you've made it to the location, but you never contacted me- he felt relief wash over him.

-Yeah, sorry buddy. I don't have any signal on my cell phone where I am, and I just _now_ got in- she explained.

-Did something happen to slow your progress?- Bumblebee asked.

-... Let's just say I have a lot of stuff to talk about and a lot of stuff to repress with everything else...-

"Bumblebee?" the yellow mech was shaken from his communications and looked down to the sleepy-eyed form of Optimus.

"Right... Optimus, I am receiving a call from Cat as we speak. She says she's all right, so there's no need to call in reinforcements," Bumblebee explained.

"Why was she so late in informing us of this?" Optimus grouched, Jazz joining them, rubbing his tired eyes as well.

"Wuz goin' on?" he asked, his soft, human feet patting against the floor.

-Bee?- Cat thought that she had lost the transmission.

-Cat, get back as soon as you can... The converters are speeding up, and I fear that we may not have much time- Cat noticed the waivering effect in Bumblebee's audio speakers.

-I will Bee. I promise. Just call off the dogs and I'll get to work on this- Cat tried to sound as calming and possible in her current frame of mind.

"Bumblebee?!" Optimus started to get annoyed with being ignored.

-Just hurry Cat...- Bumblebee ended the transmission.

"She didn't have any signal in the area where she is, and just now arrived on location. She says that she's working on the situation as we speak," Bumblebee explained.

"Took her a while to get there, she okay?" Jazz asked.

"She says she's all right, but from the sound of her voice... I believe that she's just finished battling," he was sure that he had recognized the variation of anger in her voice. Of course he's heard it before, so he was sure of himself.

"Battling? Battling what? Optimus, maybe we should send someone in afta her anyway just to-"

"It's all right Jazz. If she says that she's got it under control, then we should trust her. Let's wait it out and finish recharging for now," the leader put a hand to Jazz's shoulder.

--

Cat hung up the phone and sat down on the couch. She sighed and lowered her head, running her hands through her hair. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry out, but most of all she wanted to be near her friends. She felt lost. What was making her most upset was that just the mention of her project name seem to call to the darker side of her. She looked to her hands and saw that they were shaking quite badly. She could still feel the anger pulsing through her. The spite, the malice, the inner carnage; it was all eating her alive. She wasn't sure if she could even continue doing this right now, as she feared she may be overtaken.

"Uh," Cat looked up quickly, only to see the face of Brett Craft, who looked a bit unsettled.

"What?" Cat seethed.

"Those two guys look like they're coming to, and being that you seem to -uh- be able to-"

"Yeah, okay... I'll take care of it," she looked into his eyes, "And then you and I need to have a chat..."

--

Cat had tied and taped up the sector eleven operatives and sat Brett down in the kitchen.

"I need information..." she began.

"Which information?"

"Your projectors... You left some behind after sectors seven and eleven disbanded. We've been using them for training but... Well long story short, we've made a little mistake and instead of there being holograms, we have matter being transfered into the projected images..." she explained.

"Wait... What do you mean that the matter is being _transfered_ into the images... You mean like... they're coming to life?" Cat gave a solemn nod.

"Uh... okay... That shouldn't be too hard. Have you tried to reverse the converters?" he asked.

"No... the amount of matter that's being transfered is too large for these small converters to handle. If we tried to reverse it, it could cause the matter to combust, and we can't afford that risk," Cat explained.

"Wait, wait wait... How much matter are we talking about here?" he raised an eyebrow.

Cat's eyes strayed around the room and she mumbled, looking as if she were doing calculations in her head.

"About... ten times the power of the sun?" she almost sounded as if she didn't want to say it, but she did anyway.

Brett's jaw practically dropped to the table, "T-there's... There's no such thing! You're trying to tell me that you have something that's ten times the power of the sun that's currently on this planet?!"

"Uh, no actually... Try about ten something's..." Cat replied.

Brett shot up from sitting down and said, "No... No, no, no, no... I'm sorry, but this is a little unbelievable even for me!" he left the room, Cat following.

"Oh please! You worked for an over-funded government lab! You've seen a lot of weird things pass through there!" she griped.

"Look!" Brett turned on her and yelled, "The last year of my life has been hell, all right?! I was the government's bitch! Always doing what I was told, never stopping to ask questions because I wasn't supposed to. And then when some sort of attacks happened at the Dam, I was laid off, my wife took my kids and left me, and ever since I've been shot at, bullied, and nearly _kidnapped_ for all of the stuff that I know! I moved out here to get away from this kind of crap, and I _refuse_ to be a part of it again!"

Cat gave him a few seconds to catch his breath before asking, "You done?"

"Am I... Am I done?! No! How about let's finish off with I don't know who the hell you are, or who you work for, or why the hell sector eleven is after me?!"

Cat crossed her arms, "I've told you who I am... I was Project-" she couldn't bring herself to say it, "I was one of the reasons why you were brought in to create those wretched things... My name is Catherine Lillian Andrews, and as for who I'm working for, I'm not working for anyone. But my friends are in trouble, and if I don't get answers soon, they're going to be in even bigger trouble!"

"Are your friends the ones working for the government?" Brett scoffed.

"They don't work for anyone but themselves... They're very unique individuals, and I'm..." she stopped and looked away, a stray expression of fear passed across her face, "I'm scared for them... They're the only ones I've got and I won't let them come to harm..."

Brett looked at her with a disbelieving look upon his face, "How are they in danger of being harmed? I thought that you said that the power was from something that's ten times that of the sun? _Humans_ don't store that kind of power in their bodies!"

Cat looked him dead in the eyes and said, "I never said they were human..."

Brett's facial expression went from serious to "Are you serious?!"

He walked out of the room and quickly tried to get as far away from Cat as possible.

"No, I'm sorry but this is way out my league!" he said.

Cat pummeled him to the ground and said, "Don't give me that crap! You know all about Sector Seven and the "Ice Man" Project! Where'd you think NBE One came from?! It wasn't New Jersey, I can tell you that!"

Brett stopped struggling and turned his head to look at Cat from a side glance, "The... The Ice Man? So he's... he's from outerspace?"

"Yeah, and so are my friends... I need your help, and you're the only one who knows the projection system well enough to know what would happen in a case like this, and how to reverse it safely!" she demanded.

Brett stopped struggling altogether and let his forehead hit the kitchen tiles and let out a sigh, "My work room is in the basement..."

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat followed the scientist to his workroom, and watched him closely. He stopped and turned slightly to Cat and said, "Step back..."

Cat frowned but did so, waiting to see what was about to happen. She looked around the old room and saw that it was in decrepit state.

"I think your workroom needs some... work..." Cat commented.

Brett smirked and said, "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Cat watched as he opened a small panel of lights on the wall by an old door, which looked to be the entrance to a closet. After he punched a code in the panel, he reached down and opened the door just with a turn of the knob.

"Look, if you don't have the tools for a job like this, we could always just-" Cat began.

Brett opened the door the rest of the way and flipped the switch, causing a ballroom sized room filled to the brim with schematics, computers, and projector boxes that were cracked open, looking as if they were halfway through repair.

"Go back... to my... lab..." Cat's eyes widened in surprise.

And then she realized something... She could never let Wheeljack see this place...

--

Actually, I was going to make this the last bit of the Hologram problem, but this is way too long as it is. So the next chapter is going to be shorter than this one, but I couldn't imagine taking this one any farther than what it is. So hopefully I'll be updating soon and then we can get started on the next portion of Soul Recon. After the next chapter is when the heat starts turning up. Decepticons and Romance all in one chap!


	17. Before it's Too Late

Hey All! All right then, this chapter is a bit... longer, than I said it would be. But I'm hoping that you'll all still find it to your liking anyway. So I've discovered a reason why I can't stand staring at my computer screen for very long anymore. My left eye is farsighted, and my right eye is nearsighted, which I think has been causing my nasty migranes, keeping me away from the computer more often than I'd like. So, I've got a way to hopefully fix this little problem, but it's slowed me down quite a bit. But I shall promise to prevail! Also, be sure to read the A/N at the bottom of this post! Anyway, onto the reviewers!

Oh! And Happy Labor Day weekend! I hope everyone enjoys themselves! I know I'll enjoy a day off of both jobs!

FORD B: Wish granted!

Nola1: No, if there's a couple of things that I won't have in my story, it's slash and romance between bad guys and good guys. I simply mean that there will be romance for Cat, and Decepticon activity. Promise!

GrimlockX4: Well, they're not exactly the same, but they're the lower classes of the group. We'll get to see the big Fat Cats of Sector Eleven eventually, but later on. Wheeljack definitely shouldn't see the lab, so he won't... At least for now... no promises lol.

Anyway, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any other copyrighted and trademarked thing in this story! However I do own Cat, Five, and Rotten.

--

Cat followed the scientist to his workroom, and watched him closely. He stopped and turned slightly to Cat and said, "Step back..."

Cat frowned but did so, waiting to see what was about to happen. She looked around the old room and saw that it was in decrepit state.

"I think your workroom needs some... work..." Cat commented.

Brett smirked and said, "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Cat watched as he opened a small panel of lights on the wall by an old door, which looked to be the entrance to a closet. After he punched a code in the panel, he reached down and opened the door just with a turn of the knob.

"Look, if you don't have the tools for a job like this, we could always just-" Cat began.

Brett opened the door the rest of the way and flipped the switch, causing a ballroom sized room filled to the brim with schematics, computers, and projector boxes that were cracked open, looking as if they were halfway through repair.

"Go back... to my... lab..." Cat's eyes widened in surprise.

And then she realized something... She could never let Wheeljack see this place...

"It's nothing like what I had when I worked at the Dam, but it's my own little personal space," Brett's face was expressionless.

Cat walked around the giant room, looking through some of the shells of the projectors on a nearby table, blue, green, red, and yellow wires strung all around, along with computer chips and soldering tools strewn about. The rooms walls had to have been about thirty feet tall, there were no windows, of course, being that they were below the ground in the depths of a basement. There had to have been about twelve computers, in the back of the room, all running diagnostics on different systems.

"I had this place built a few months before the attacks at the Dam. I had enough finances to retire from that place, and had planned to but they laid me off first. This place was already built, so I wanted to come here and do some web stuff to keep myself afloat," the tone of his voice hinted with anger and remorse.

"You mean you built the land to have all of this protection before you knew of the attacks?" Cat asked, wondering why someone would go so far to seclude themselves from the outside if they had no reason to.

"No. I installed the projectors and had the fences built after I moved here... It seemed prudent at the time to keep everyone out after the first attempted kidnapping..." he trailed off.

Cat turned and looked at him, noticing that his eyes went to the floor.

"It happens..." Brett looked up to Cat when he heard her voice.

"W..What does?" he asked.

"When someone knows that you're worth while, you become a target. You're not the first..." it was Cat's way of trying to console someone.

Brett frowned, "So then what would your itentions be?"

Cat raised an eyebrow, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're here demanding me to help you. I can only assume that you would've forced me to give you the information, had I not been as helpful to you..."

Cat growled and asked, "Well then, I can do one of two things for you... I can call up my friends and have them send about a hundred guys in uniform to _make_ you, or I can untie our friends upstairs so _they_ can _make_ you..."

Brett's eyes widened, "You wouldn't..."

"There's a few things that I've been known for, and a few things that I haven't been known for... I've been known to pull a few crazy stunts, but haven't really been known to feel remorse about them... Just ask my friends..." Cat crossed her arms.

"Blackmail..." Brett mumbled as he went to his massive computer units and sat down.

Cat smirked and said, "I do what I can."

--

Upstairs, the two sector eleven operatives were far less than cooperative, and the younger man that wasn't quite in as much pain as the other was already looking for a way out of his situation.

"Just move to the right! That's all I need you to do!" he ordered in a loud whisper.

"You ain't got yur arm twisted around and broken! Shut up!" the older one complained, tears actually pouring down his dirty face.

"This is going to take a while…" the younger one hung his head and sighed.

--

Cat sat down at one of the computer monitors and looked over the systems. She was actually impressed! This place seemed to have just as much ability as the computers at the Dam! She was overlooking everything when she felt something hot on the left side of her face. The kind of searing hot feeling that you get when you feel as if someone is looking at you from afar. She looked over to see Brett staring at her with that "look". Oh yeah, she knew that look.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked angrily. She hated that look.

"I can't do this…" he replied.

"What?! Why not?!"

"…You're bleeding…" he pointed out.

Cat absent-mindedly reached up to the gash that was over her right eyebrow and felt at the dried, crusty blood.

"Yeah, so? I bleed all the time," she joked. For some reason, Brett didn't seem to find it quite as funny, giving her that raised eyebrow look that a certain medic normally would.

Brett got up from the computers and went over to a set of cabinets, using one of the smaller keys on his large set. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a large, white box, bringing it over to Cat, sitting down directly next to her and opening it. It was a first aid kit of the industrial sized. Bandages, isopropyl sprays, cotton balls, rags, cold compresses, tape and tools used to stitch were organized in the box.

"…You expect a lot of accidents working on computers there, doc?" Cat asked, staring at the lot of tools.

Brett stopped to glare at Cat momentarily before digging around, pulling out a rag and the isopropyl sprays.

"As a parent, I keep these kinds of things around. There's always an accident or two and you never know when something like this comes in handy," he said sternly, "and _as_ a parent, I can't stand looking at something like this."

Cat grabbed Brett's wrist before he could reach up to clean her cut.

"The last person who touched me with that stuff had to have a twenty-five foot tall robot hold me down to do it…" she growled.

"I have to clean it… I can't sit here and work, staring at that cut," he tried to reason.

"…You work, I'll clean it…" Cat decided that she was going to have to do the job, because she certainly wasn't going to let a perfect stranger touch her.

Cat suddenly noticed that Brett's eyes had strayed from her forehead to her right arm, which was holding his left wrist. He was staring at it with such a forlorn expression. Cat pulled her arm back as soon as she noticed this and grabbed the rag and spray from him, turning away.

"…You were just a baby…" he was down to a whisper.

Cat didn't even turn back to him in acknowledgement. It was hard enough that she was trying to fight some of the violent urges that she was feeling now, and she _really_ didn't want to have to make anymore extra special effort than what she was already doing.

"I _do_ remember you… I remember you were the first one to test the projectors for it's first use… I remember watching you, almost unable to believe that anyone could have that much strength… Especially someone who was so young… Looking back at it, I wish that I had never created these damn things… I couldn't imagine my own children going through what you-"

"LOOK!" Cat slammed her fists down on the wooden desk, "I didn't come here to relive my pathetic existence back in that place… I made my escape from that hell a long time ago, and even though I prefer to act as though it never happened, I get to think about it every day, and relive it in my nightmares!" she looked at him with a glare full of malice, "You think you've got it bad just because someone's tried to kidnap you?! Or because people want the information you have?! You don't know _anything_! Up to this point, no matter what happens to you, it won't be anywhere _NEAR_ what my life has been!"

Brett was still as stone. Afraid to move, almost in the way that you would stay still because you would fear that a nearby wild animal would attack if you so much as wiggled a toe.

"And to top it all off, my friends are turning into something they're not, and if that happens it'll only prove that everything I touch turns to shit!… So please don't dwell on my past… I don't think I can take it at this point…" Cat tried to calm herself by looking away from the scientist and dabbing the isopropyl at her cut ever so gently.

"I-… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to-"

"No one ever does… But now you know…" she whispered, "Please work on the converter Doctor Craft… I don't have much time…"

Brett nodded slowly, turning back to the computer that he was at earlier.

"How long until you can get a converter that can process the kind of energy that I've told you?" Cat asked after a long silence.

"I don't know… A day, two days probably," he shrugged.

Cat's head spun around on her shoulders towards the scientist, "We don't have two days! We don't even have a day!"

Brett stopped working and looked at Cat with a 'you're kidding' look on his face, "How the hell do you expect me to build something that powerful in a short amount of time?! It's impossible!"

Cat smirked and replied, "Now that's one of the things that my existence has taught me. If there's one thing I know, it's that nothing's impossible. Between my lost Alchemy skills, and giant alien mechanical beings, there's nothing that can't be accomplished."

"Having hope doesn't mean it'll get done…" Brett crossed his arms.

Cat raised a finger in the air as she proclaimed, "Ah, but I'm here to help! Let's get started on this!"

--

"Any answer?" Mikaela asked.

Sam shook his head and said, "No, it just keeps going straight to voicemail… Wherever she is, she's out of range for her cell to work…" he hung up his cell phone and sighed.

"Well, Bumblebee _did_ say that she was going somewhere that was miles from any town," Mikaela reasoned as she cuddled up against Sam in the living room of the Witwicky's house.

"You think that the Autobots will be okay? I mean, it'd be weird having them has humans, you know?" Mikaela asked.

"I'm sure they'll make it out of this. They've been through tougher scrapes than this," Sam said confidently, even though he didn't feel very confident.

"Yeah… But what about Cat? She went off to some strangers house to get answers… I mean, he used to work for sector eleven right? How are we to know that he's not some evil, maniacal scientist that won't try and-"

"This _is_ Cat you're talking about right? I know for a _fact_ that she's been through worse things than this. Besides, she was specially trained by a section of the government that even the president didn't know about!" Sam reasoned.

Mikaela yawned, "Let's hope that it's enough…"

--

"Are you crazy?! You can't do that!" Brett scolded Cat as she was doing some soldering work to the shell of the new converter box.

"What's wrong with it?" Cat asked.

"You can't just hotwire those together! It could cause a short out and melt the main circuit box!" he showed the girl the schematics, pointing to some handwritten notes over specific circuitry.

At this point, it was nearly two in the morning, and Cat and Brett had managed to design and draw out the schematics for the massive converter. Having rushed the scientist made him burn himself on the soldering tools, so Cat took over. This only seemed to cause grief as to who was right about what should go where.

"Not if I rewire these two together," Cat replied calmly, pointing to the schematics as well.

"It's never been done! You could create a potential fire hazard!" Brett griped.

"Hmm… All right, have it your way," Cat shrugged and began her work once more.

"No, not there, here."

"Stop it…"

"You missed a spot!"

"I did that on purpose."

"Those wires are still loose!"

"Don't you have anything better to do than to bug me?!"

"Apparently you need someone to watch over you! Otherwise you'll screw this all up!"

"You're about to join our little friends upstairs with tape over your mouth!"

"Look, will you just listen to me?! I've been putting these things together since you were in diapers!"

"Yes, and now I'm going to upstage you, so stop pestering me!"

"Here, just let me do it!"

"Getting a little testy aren't we?"

"Look, you came here looking for my help, so let me help!"

"I'm very capable of reading and following blueprints, so stop yelling at me and hand me that soldering wire over there!"

Brett threw his hands up in frustration and groaned, "This'll never get done in time…"

Cat smirked and went back to work. It had gotten quiet for a few moments as she saw Brett's eyes completely trained on what she was doing. She was tired of being under scrutiny so she decided to start a new conversation.

"So what happened?" she asked.

Brett looked up to her for just a second, then looked back down to the feeble wiring job, "What happened with what?"

Cat shrugged, "What happened to make your family leave you here by yourself?"

Brett stopped watching what Cat was doing and looked to her, then looked away, walking over to the coffee pot, which was currently warming their second full pot of coffee.

"I don't know… I guess I was too much of a workaholic and after I was laid off at the Dam, I sort of just… Well if you'd ask my ex-wife she'd tell you that I was too zoned out all the time. She said I made too big of a deal about what I did for a living," he shrugged.

Cat stopped her soldering and looked around the ballroom sized lab and said, "You think maybe she was onto something?"

"I was _trying_ to create a better life for my family!" he insisted.

"Yeah but, you can only work so hard before you take the rest of your life away, right? You're supposed to _enjoy_ your family, not put your work before them," she went back to her work.

"I don't know… I guess a lot of things started to get to me after so long a time… Everyone at the Dam just became too much for me. Everything was a competition to get things done, and if you weren't first, you were fired. I couldn't afford to be fired and lose all the data that I had worked so hard for… If they had fired me in the middle of a project, then someone else would have taken over, and I wouldn't have gotten any credit for the work I've done…"

"And?" Cat asked with a raised eyebrow, her eyes steady on what she was doing.

"… And I guess I didn't think that my wife was very understanding of what I was trying to do… When I had a bad day at work, I couldn't tell her much about it, otherwise she would've known too much, and someone might have come for her and the kids instead of me. So I would have to keep everything bottled up, and life became more of a hassle than it did become enjoyable."

Brett gripped his coffee cup as though it were a force of life that he had to hang onto for dear life.

"Next thing I know, there's some sort of terrorist attacks on the Dam, they laid me off, making me promise never to reveal anything I knew to anyone. Then my wife took the kids and went to her parents house. I thought it would blow over but…" his voice trailed off into oblivion.

Cat stopped her work and looked to the scientist, who was staring at the floor as if he could see right through it. All too often, Cat thought, people were too involved in their work. She'd seen it a million times growing up. Some of the lab technicians that actually took decent care of her when it was their turn to would tell her all about their problems. Mostly because she wouldn't speak a word back to anyone at that point, but still. She could always see the bags under their eyes, indicating that they were spending too much time trying to be the best at their job. Such was the life of someone who spent more time devising ways of destroying her life, over spending time with their families and enjoying their own lives. Cat thought of all kinds of things that they could have been doing with their lives instead of trying to build the best human biological weapon.

Cat sighed and put the soldering tools down, taking her work gloves off and throwing them down on the table.

"You take over… I've just realized that I have some questions for our little buddies upstairs," she ordered, walking out of the lab and into the decrepit basement of the "normal" looking house.

She took the stairs that led back up into the kitchen, then turned left to head into the living room, where she had left the two to stew in their own minds. When she walked down the hallway and took a peek into the room, she saw that they were gone.

"I knew I should have just killed them when I had the chance…" Cat growled, her anger rising.

Before she even attempted to run a scan with her left eye to try and find their bio-signatures, Cat heard something knock over in another room.

"Just hold still! I've almost got it!" she could hear the voice of the younger man, and the sound of something sawing away at the layers of tape.

The two were in one of the bedrooms, having found a dulled butter knife to prop up in between a nightstand and a bedpost. The last bit of the tape snapped apart and the man's voice sounded cheery as he spoke, "I got it!"

The sound of a revolver's hammer clicking into place made the two men spin their heads around, only to see the barrel of a gun pointing directly at them once more.

"And now you're back to square one!" Cat gave a sarcastic grin.

--

Having re-taped and roped the men up this time, Cat sat down on the couch, putting her elbows on her knees, staring down at the two men in front of her.

"I have some questions for you, and I expect an answer… If I don't get an answer, then I break your fingers one by one. And if we get through all of your fingers, then we'll start working on your toes. And if we get through your toes, then we play the game of breaking whatever I feel like… Any questions?" Cat asked, an evil grin on her face.

No answer.

"Good… As you can imagine, the government would like nothing more than these two little problems of sectors seven and sector eleven to be nothing more than a memory. And it can't be, if we have some old members trying new tricks… Who are you, first of all?"

"We were sent here by some higher-ups in the new sector eleven… They wanted the information on the projectors…" it was obvious that the younger man knew more, so he explained, not wanting to have anything else broken.

"Why do they need the projectors?" Cat asked, worried about what it was that they were going to use them for.

"I'm not sure, exactly. I know it has something to do with them wanting to restart their research on…" he looked straight into Cat's eyes, "new projects…"

Cat's eyes widened… No… Just the idea of more children suffering the way she did was unbearable. However, she pressed on with her questioning.

"What's the point of creating new projects? They're obviously not going to be used by the government. The president won't have any of that," she asked.

"They don't want the government to use them… They want to use them against the government…" he coughed.

"I see… So why did you want me to come with you? I'd sooner die than work for sector eleven!" she growled.

"I don't think they want you for fighting…"

Cat was confused, "So they want something to do with my Alchemy? Because I'm no longer capable of performing that kind of thing."

He shook his head.

"Then _what_ do they _want_ with me?" Cat clenched her jaw. She was already growing weary of such vague answers.

"I believe that I've overheard them talking about different experimentations. But I'm not sure exactly what it is that they want to do…"

Cat scoffed, "No surprise there… Where are they?"

"I don't know…"

"You're lying! And lying is a personal foul, punishable by the breaking of joints!" Cat seethed, reaching down and grabbing one of the fingers on the younger man's bound hands.

"No! Please!" he begged, "I don't know where they're at because they constantly move!"

Cat stopped what she was about to do, but gripped on the finger tightly, giving him a reason to stay honest with her.

"What do you mean that they keep moving?!" she asked.

"They don't stay in an office, or a lab, they just move all the time! Renting properties for a month or so, and then leaving to rent another in a different state! They do it so they don't get caught!"

"What are their names?!" Cat seethed.

"I don't know! We only know them by alias!" he started to get choked up, feeling impending doom grip at his index finger.

"Makes sense, I suppose… I guess they do that so that if you guys get caught," she eyed them with a grin, "You're not entrusted with information that you'll most likely tell someone who's torturing you…"

The younger man's eyes strayed from all different places in the room to keep from having eye contact with Cat. However she took hold of his chin and made sure to look him straight in the eyes.

"And you're sure that you're telling me the truth? Nothing left out?" she asked.

The young man shook his head slow and steady.

Cat let go of the man's finger, hearing him sigh in relief as she did so.

"Make anymore attempts to escape and you won't have an unbroken bone in your body. Got it?" Cat growled.

The two men nodded, and Cat headed back down the stairs to the lab. She entered the large room once more when she saw that Brett had taken over the work on the shell, keeping steady hands on his tools.

"Well, that seemed to go well," Cat said with a large yawn.

This was not lost on Brett, as he stopped what he was doing and looked to the young woman.

"Why don't you get some sleep? I'll finish the work on this," he suggested.

"I need to be around to help you," she griped.

"There's nothing you can do. Right now it's all a matter of getting it built, and it's a one person job. You can't have two hands in here trying to finish it, it'll slow things down. How far do you need to drive?"

"Where do you think? The Dam, of course!" Cat said in agitation.

"You've got a long drive ahead of you. It'll just take me a couple of hours to finish this, and then you can be on your way," he said calmly.

"All right _dad_… I'll be upstairs if you need me then," Cat yawned again and headed up the stairs.

Taking it upon herself to go by the living room once more to make sure that the operatives were keeping quiet, she grinned slightly as they looked to her fearfully.

"Change of plans, boys. I'm staying up here to take a little nap. But don't worry, I usually wake up at the sound of a feather dropping to the floor, so any wrong move and I'll be sure to be there right on you," she informed them as she passed through and headed towards a guest bedroom.

--

It was about four o'clock in the morning, and the Dam was quiet and peaceful for such a-

"SIDES GET BACK HERE!" a loud growl echoed through the hallways.

So much for peaceful…

A muscular red headed human ran wildly down a bunker corridor, a mischievous grin plastered on his face as he ran for dear life. Not far behind him was an enraged blond… Or at least he _was_ blond… It looked as though someone had doused him in a gallon or two of red paint. The angry Sunstreaker was obviously not amused with his brother's antics.

"That's what you get for trying to prank me earlier!" Sideswipe shouted with glee behind him as he ran.

The seething Sunstreaker could only think in terms of "Murder Death Kill" as he replied, "It didn't _get_ you, it got Hide!"

"Yeah, but I got in trouble for it too!" the giggly human swiftly flew around yet another corner, hoping to throw off the trail of his brother so he could hide for a few… days…

As he rounded the corning he ran into something hard, knocking both himself and the other over. After landing face first on the ground, he looked up to see that he had actually knocked over, what looked to be, one of the women technicians. Paperwork and clipboards of information were now scattered all over the floor. The woman looked to Sideswipe with her own look of "Murder Death Kill" as she pushed her thin wire-framed glasses back up on the bridge of her nose and glared at the Autobot turned human. Her bright green eyes caught his own emerald ones as she brushed her brunette hair out of her face.

"I- uh… I… running… Sunny…" Sideswipe suddenly realized that his verbal skills had been reduced to nothing more than broken English.

"SIDESWIPE!" The growls of Sunny echoed the halls once more as he rounded the corner and laid eyes on his human brother.

"Yip…" Sideswipe deftly scooted over to the woman technician and hid behind her even as she was still sitting on her behind on the ground.

She looked back to the cowering human and asked, "You must be the twins?"

"Uh… yeah…" Sideswipe replied, never taking his eyes off of the filthy Sunstreaker.

She looked back to the paint-soaked Sunny and asked, "And that must be your work?"

Sideswipe moved to the other side of wherever Sunny wasn't behind the woman, trying to stay a safe distance from his enraged sibling.

"You _do_ realize that it'll just wash off don't you?" she asked with a sarcastic frown.

Sunny stopped his chasing after his brother and looked to the human, his sapphire eyes burning with disdain.

"Who're you?!" he asked.

"My name is Doctor Murray… I work in the medical bay at night, and for the last month, I've been warned that I might see you two in my bay every once and a while," she replied as she began shuffling papers around.

"Warned?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yes. Ratchet has told me stories about you two," she replied once more.

Sunstreaker pointed a finger at his guilty sibling and said, "He got _paint_ all over me!"

Gina sighed and stood up, pulling a rag out of her pocket and walking over to a nearby water fountain, soaking it and then twisting it to release the excess water from it so that it didn't drip. She walked back over to Sunstreaker and took a hold of his left arm, rubbing the wet rag against his skin, clearing a spot for him.

"There. You see? Just shower and it'll come off…" she ordered as she went back over to collecting her belongings.

Sideswipe helped her as Sunstreaker stared at the clean spot.

"We keep forgetting that we're not in our armor anymore. Usually when we get covered in paint it takes Ratchet a couple of hours to fix it," Sideswipe smiled.

"I suppose that's understandable… But no more running in the halls. You could hurt yourself and someone else if you're not careful," she replied.

"Thank you Doctor-" Sideswipe began as he handed the last clipboard back to the woman.

"Please, just call me Gina. And don't let me catch you two horsing around while I'm on shift, okay?" she said as she began walking towards her original destination.

Sunstreaker looked to Sideswipe to gripe at him when he stopped to notice that his brother seemed to be staring at the thin woman in her white lab coat and heels. He roughly shoved Sideswipe and growled.

"What the slag is wrong with you?!" the paint covered twin asked.

Sideswipe quickly recovered from his stare and stammered, "I-well-uh-you see- she- uh… N-nothing…"

Sunny grinned evilly, "It sure didn't look like nothing. What's the matter Sides?" he teased, "A _human_ femme caught your attention?"

"Sideswipe turned and glared at his brother, "N-NO!"

"Oh really? _Now_ who's red in the face?" Sunny teased again.

Sideswipe suddenly realized that he could feel his human cheeks burning with embarrassment, "Am not!"

"Now I know where _you're _going to be spending all of your nights at!" he yelled so that even though the good Doctor was now down the hall, she could hear what he was saying.

"Knock it off, Sunny!" Sideswipe growled, pummeling his brother to the ground, the two rolling around, one laughing hysterically the other still yelling "shut up!"

Gina got to the other end of the hallway, of course hearing everything that was being said, and turned and sighed.

Having these two around were certainly going to keep her from ever being bored, that was for sure…

--

Cat was in a dark place. She couldn't see anything other than the pitch black color that surrounded her.

"Cat…" a soft and gentle voice whispered from all around.

Cat turned back and forth, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

"Hello?! Five, is that you?!" she called out.

Cat could hear whispers of all kinds all around her. Some were familiar voices, the others were stray and unrecognizable. She was getting nervous and paranoid.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" she yelled into the blankness void.

The voices turned from whispers to laughter. Some of them were repeating something that was incoherent to her.

Cat's anger began to rise. She suddenly felt a wave of betrayal wash over her, as well as many other emotions that seemed to attack her innards.

"Let it go Seven," Five's voice was suddenly booming over all the others.

"Five?!" Cat yelled back.

"Release the energy that you feel! Release it!" the woman ordered.

Cat suddenly felt the familiar wave of energy begin to build up inside of her. The same energy that caused the surges in Mission City and at the Dam. Cat could feel a force within her that seemed to be of it's own accord, begging for her to release all of what she was bottling up inside of her. She began shaking badly, falling to the ground and curling up in a fetal position, clamping her right hand over her left fist tightly.

"N-n-no! F-Five! I c-c-can't do that! Someone might get h-hurt!" She stammered, holding what little strength she had left against the power working within her body.

"They must pay!" a new voice demanded, "They must pay for what they have done to us! ALL of us!"

Cat looked up to see silhouetted figures walking towards her. There were five of them in all, walking together towards the girl.

"Who?! Who has to pay?!" Cat could feel her heart pounding the blood through her veins. Her eyes widened in a near death shock as she saw the faces of the ones who now stood before her.

They were her brothers and sisters. Five of the projects stood over her, surrounding her with hard stares.

"You have them nearby, and they must pay!" one of her brothers spoke.

"Who? W-who's nearby?!" Cat asked.

"Two of the members of Sector Eleven… They are near… Make them pay dearly for what they have done to us!" one of her sisters spoke.

"Wha-?!" Cat suddenly remembered the two men who were tied up in Doctor Crafts' living room.

"Even after you have threatened them they are, as we speak, plotting to kill or capture you! Make them pay!"

"N-Not like this! There's a civilian near and it could-" she tried to reason.

"He was once a member of their organization! He must be eliminated!" one of the women spoke.

Five leaned down to Cat and put a hand to her shoulder in reassurance, "For us, Seven… For revenge…"

Cat looked around to those who stood near her. She suddenly realized that there were, in fact, only five of them. Adding herself, there were only six in the group… Where was the seventh?

Cat shrugged off Five's warm hand and yelled, "NO! I'm not a tool to be used as you please!"

The black void swirled around her, the voices disappearing.

--

"Closer! Come on! Just a little closer!" one of the sector eleven operatives said in a loud whisper.

They had maneuvered themselves to Cat's location in one of the guest rooms and were getting close to finding a way out of their binds, the ties coming undone, giving them the momentum to strike soon after.

The older man stopped suddenly.

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" the younger man protested.

"Something's wrong…" the old man said aloud.

"What?!" the younger man shouted just before he noticed a blue spark twirl past his face. His back had been turned to Cat as they were working on the ropes but he craned his neck so that he could see her better.

A blue light, followed by several sparks and pops were suddenly emanating from Cat's body. Her body began to shake violently.

"What's happening?!" The younger man asked.

"Somethin' bad…" The older man realized.

The blue light flashed and screams could be heard from everyone in the room, including Cat.

--

Down in the lab, Brett had just put the finishing touches on the new converter and he wiped his sweating forehead with an old shop rag and sighed in relief.

"There! Done and done!" he smiled happily.

There was a sudden jolt as the room shook for several seconds, knocking Brett off of his feet and onto the floor. The shaking didn't last long but the man suddenly heard loud screams just before it stopped. He rushed back onto his feet and ran up the stairs as fast as he could, running through the kitchen and living areas of the house he stopped and looked around. A blue light that was fading had caught his eye, and he headed for the bedroom from where it was coming from.

Stopping at the bedroom's door, Brett saw Cat sitting up in the bed rubbing her tired eyes, and the two sector eleven members with the backs flat against the other wall, their eyes wide, their mouths agape, as well as their breathing being harsh and shallow.

"What's going on?" Brett asked.

The men pointed their good hands at Cat, their pointed fingers shaking back and forth in Cat's direction.

Brett looked to the girl who had sat up in the bed and began rubbing at her temples. He went to her and sat down on the bed overlooking her with mild curiosity.

"What happened?" Cat asked in a raspy voice.

"We had an earthquake. I could feel it from downstairs even," Brett replied, noticing that the two men were shaking their heads as if to protest that it was an earthquake at all and pointed their fingers at Cat even more profusely, not saying a word.

"Are you all right?" Brett asked Cat.

"Yeah… I think so…" she looked up to him with a confused look.

"Well, you don't look any worse for the ware," he suddenly remembered important information, "Oh, by the way, I just finished the converter. It's ready to go when you are."

Cat rubbed at her eyes again and looked back towards the two men who were still in an obvious amount of shock and despair.

"How the hell did you two get out of your ties again?!" Cat waved a "no no" finger at them.

They both just shook their heads quickly, Cat noticing how badly they were shaking. They truly looked… fearful of her.

"Well whatever. I'll tie you up one more time and then have the _real_ authorities take you away. And I'll be off on my way home," she stood up and walked over to the two, grabbing them by the scruffs of their shirts and throwing them together, retying the ropes that held them before and dragging them out into the living room.

"Now, let's get that box ready to go. I don't have any time to waste," Cat said as she grabbed her rider's jacket.

--

After tying down the converter box with a small tarp and several bungee cables to the second seat of her Busa, Cat felt assured that it would make the trip home. She zipped up her jacket and made sure that her cell phone and map were still in her pocket before throwing on her rider's gloves.

"I've contacted the CIA, and they're coming to pick those two up here shortly. I wouldn't think they it would be anymore than ten minutes or so," Cat informed Brett as she suited up to leave.

Brett just stood, looking as though he had something on his mind. Cat noticed the expression and stopped what she was doing.

"What?" she asked.

"… So once again, I'm used and abused, and then left out of the action…" he sighed.

Cat smirked and replied, "I'm sure I could think of a way to repay you for your service. You're saving a different species, so don't look so down on your luck."

Brett only nodded curtly in response.

"And I'll have some people out here to repair the damage that I did to your property," Cat added.

Brett smiled a half smile and said, "Thanks… That would save me a lot of time and effort."

Cat smirked and threw on her helmet, "No problem. You're doing me a favor of proportions that I don't even think you know, so it's only good of me to return the favor."

Cat jumped on the bike and turned the engine on. The early morning light of the crack of dawn made a gleam off of Cat's bike as she kicked the kickstand up and made her way down the driveway and out of sight.

"Good luck then," Brett said quietly as he waved.

Two small honks of the bike were made in response.

--

It was nearly two in the afternoon at the Dam, and Bumblebee was becoming more and more worried for his friends and commanders when they were having difficulties standing or walking for long periods of time. The situation was becoming dire, and if something weren't done soon, he was sure that they weren't going to survive as humans for very long after their sparks were fully converted to their human states.

The yellow mech was attending to Wheeljack's need for a sip of water when he noticed that Optimus was limping through the door of the med bay. He saw his leader trip over his own foot and begin to fall to the ground and rushed from where he was, knowing he wouldn't make it in time to catch him before he hit the concrete floor.

Optimus almost made a close encounter with the floor before he suddenly stopped his descent, feeling two, unfaltering arms catch around him. He slowly lifted his head to thank Bumblebee when he saw the worried face of Cat looking down at him.

"Cat.. You're… back…" he stated simply.

Cat picked up her friend and set him on his feet, not letting go for a moment.

"Bumblebee! What's happening to them?!" Cat asked, looking to the others as she escorted Optimus over to the cot near where his Cybertronian shell sat in stillness.

"Something's wrong with the converters! I don't think that their sparks are able to control their human bodies, and they're practically falling apart!" Bumblebee explained.

Cat set Optimus down on the cot gingerly and then looked up to Bumblebee with a smile, "Well then, let's get these boys fixed up fast, shall we?"

She went over to the doors of the med bay and grabbed a large desktop computer looking box and held it up to the yellow mech.

--

Cat decided to try the converter on all of them at once, and wired them all to the box, having it set in the middle of the room, wires going to each shell.

"I think that's it. Now it's all a matter of luck…" Cat said in a quiet tone.

Bumblebee gently placed a finger on Cat's shoulder, making her look to him.

"Whatever happens, I know that you would have gone to the ends of the universe to fix them if you could have Cat. And they know it too," he assured her.

Cat frowned and said, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet, okay?"

Bumblebee nodded and looked to the converter box. She placed a hand over the big red button on the side and placed her left hand on Bumblebee's finger for extra reassurance. Closing her eyes Cat said, "Let's hope it works!" and pressed the button.

The wires suddenly lit up as the matter from the shells went into the converter. Bumblebee pulled Cat back, fearing that there might have been some sort of explosion with that much power being sucked into it. Cat put her hand up in front of her eyes to block the blinding light in front of them.

"It should be any moment now!" Cat shouted.

As if on cue, the light in the wires suddenly stopped and reversed their course, turning back towards the shells at a quickened pace.

"All right! It's working!" Cat yelled happily, Bumblebee beginning to feel a bit of relief at her words.

The light was strong and steady for only a moment, before it began to flicker, the converter beginning to fail.

"No!" Cat cried out as she ran to the converter and began banging at it, "Work you piece of crap, WORK!"

The light began to fade more and more as the converter slowed down nearly to the point of shutting down. Cat rushed to crack the casing open and began tugging at wires and knocking the processor chips with her metal fingers, slightly shocking herself in the process.

"Come ON! WORK!" she pleaded just before the light grew stronger and overtook her.

--

Sub routines activated.

Power initiated: Status Online.

Running Diagnostic programs One and Two.

Diagnostics confirmed: Systems operational within One Hundred percent.

Optimus' optics flew open as his internal systems reboot. Looking around the medical bay, he saw several of the other Autobots waking, some of them getting up and walking about, checking over themselves, seemingly unable to believe that they were back to their normal selves. The leader smiled as he realized that him and his men were back to normal.

"Sir?" Bumblebee asked, noticing that Optimus was awake.

"It's good to be back," Optimus chuckled as he stood proudly.

Bumblebee nodded, "It's good to have all of you back, sir!"

"Where's Cat? Isn't she responsible for this?" Bluestreak asked.

"She's back in her quarters. She grew very tired while we were waiting for you guys to wake so I suggested that she go back and sleep," Bumblebee explained.

The Autobots smiled. Everything was back to normal once again.

"Now, I can finally begin work on a _new_ projector!" Wheeljack proclaimed.

The Autobot's all stopped their smiling and suddenly looked very sullen indeed.

Oh yeah…. Things were back to normal all right…

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat grumbled and mumbled to herself as she drove down the highway.

"(Grumble)...Let me oversleep... (grumbles)... Should have said something... (grumbles)... Now I'm going to be late..." She growled to herself.

While throwing a fit, Cat almost didn't catch a sight that she wouldn't have seen with just her human eye. Through the fog she could see something strange... Something that had it's own energy signature. An energy signature that was similar to what she normally saw with the Autobots, except it was a bit different...

A memory of Five's suddenly poked through her mind. It was during Mission City. She saw the Autobots and their energy signatures, and then she saw the vision of Megatron just before he stomped on Five, sending her close to death.

"... It's a Decepticon!" Cat sped faster towards the energy, activating the emergency call button in the small panel on her right limb.

--

A/N

Yes, I know there's a reference to the movie "Demolition Man". LOVE that movie! Anyway, Let me know what you think!

BTW: I have a new poll in my profile. I've put it there to cleverly to have my readers inspire me as to what they think there should be a bit more of. Now, I've basically already thought out everything that I want to happen in this story, but I can always add things or take things away as I go along. So put in your vote! Tell me what you think!


	18. The Night Before Christmas

Hey guys! Long time, no post, I know. But here's the newest addition! I'll probably be posting more often now that I have some time. I decided to quit my second job so I have some free time... for a little while... Anyway, on with the post!

Enjoy!

GrimlockX4 - Definitely not a good thing for our friends. But I'm sure Cat knows just what to do :D

FORD B - I'll definitely do something for the two in the future, but for now I'm just starting to get Cat on track with Romance so it'll take a little more time for everyone else. ;)

**Check out the poll for the Soul Recon series in my profile and let me know what you think! Also, I have created a new story called Straight from the Cat's Mouth if you'd like to check that out as well.**

--

**December 24th, 2007**

--

Cat yawned as she threw the covers from her bed off of her, which covered up the, now more grown, Rotten. The Rot pup yawned as well and merely rolled over under the sheets, his feet up in the air as he continued to snooze. Cat smirked a tired smile at the pup.

"Spoiled..." she mumbled as she made her way out of the room and down the hall to the master bathroom.

Cat closed the door behind her and turned to the faucet, splashing some cold water on her face. She did her normal morning routine, showering, brushing her teeth, and running a quick diagnostic on her left eye. She exited the bathroom and headed to the kitchen, where Rotten had already made his way out to. The large pup was sitting at his normal spot at his food and water dishes, looking up to Cat expectantly.

"All right, all right..." Cat grumbled as she reached under one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a large bag of dog chow and filled up the dog dish, "You'll have one of the guys feeding you later. After I have breakfast I have to get myself ready to go to Tranquility. Tomorrow is some sort of holiday called "Christmas" and Ron and Judy insist that I'm there. Too bad you're too big, otherwise I'd take you on the bike."

Cat gently patted the dog's back as he ate while she spoke, "I'll be gone for a week, so you'll have to make do with the guys taking care of you."

Rotten only seemed to ignore her as she finished telling him her plans and replaced the bag of chow back into the cabinets.

Cat started on a pot of coffee and walked into her living room, turning on her plasma screen television and sitting down on the couch, watching the early morning news.

Ah... She was finally allowed to leave... Ever since that little incident at the Craft residence, both the government and the Autobots insisted that she stay in the Dam for extra security precautions. It wasn't as if she could very well hide what happened. She knew that sooner or later they'd find out.

-Flashback-

The day after the Autobots had finally returned to their normal forms, Cat had called a meeting for her and all of them. They needed to be briefed on everything that she had discovered while away.

"We have a problem... A _big_ problem," she started.

Everyone looked to poor Wheeljack, who put his hands up defensively.

"I assure you that it's not me!" he reasoned.

Cat smiled, "No, he hasn't done anything wrong. I'm talking about some of the things that I've found out while I was gone."

They all gave her looks as if to say 'Go on'.

Cat sighed and started to explain, "While I was trying to infiltrate Doctor Craft's residence, I found two men who were dressed in officers clothing. They claimed that they were responding to someone who had been threatened while around the area. I didn't bother to check them out because I was in such a rush, but after I got in the house, they put a gun to me and began making demands from Craft."

"Why didn't you-?" Optimus began before being interrupted by Cat.

"Let me explain. They weren't there for me, or at least at the time they hadn't any clue who I was. They wanted information from Craft, demanding that he give them specs and blueprints of every invention he had. I played along for only a short time before Craft "unmasked" who they really were, " she went on.

"... They revealed themselves to be operatives from Sector Eleven..."

"Sector Eleven..." Ratchet started, "They were disbanded after Keller had ordered them and Sector Seven to be dismantled."

"Or so we apparently thought," Ironhide added.

"Right," Cat nodded, "I made the mistake of thinking that as well."

"Please continue, Cat," Optimus encouraged.

"Right... Hearing them talk about their little organization really pissed me off... And I revealed who I was to them. They were surprised, but they immediately assumed that they were going to be able to take me back to their superiors. They seemed very pleased with themselves until I turned the tables on them. Later on I questioned them and they informed me that S-Eleven is starting over... And they're in the process of trying to create newer projects..." The last bit of information that Cat had said, she had balled up her fists and narrowed her eyes.

A look of shock came over the group... More humans were going to be brought into existance the same fashion as Cat was...

"Disgusting... How could humans do this to one another?!" Sunstreaker asked.

Optimus shook his head and vented a sigh, "We've been asking that question ever since Cat first explained this to us," he looked to Cat, who was in the middle of her thoughts, "Cat?"

The girl was shaken from the darkness of her mind and she was pulled back into the conversation, "Oh... right... Anyway, I asked them where I could find their superiors, and they said that they didn't know. Apparently the ones at the top go by alias for the underlings so as not to get caught. Although I wonder how it is that they contact them..."

"Yea... They were obviously gonna take what they got from Craft and bring it to someone," Jazz agreed.

"I suppose if I had played along with them long enough I would have found out who and where it is they are. I can only assume that it was most likely going to be some sort of hand-off between contacts," Cat thought aloud.

"Most likely... However a mission like that is far too dangerous at this point. We don't even have an assumption as to where these humans are hiding. Had you gone along with them, as the humans we were, we wouldn't have been able to aid you, or follow your movements. You were very lucky to have escaped, " Prowl reasoned.

Cat crossed her arms and scoffed, "Luck had nothing to do with it. Not only were they not equipped to take me down, but they were clutzy. Even while they had a weapon pointed at me I could have killed them before they knew that they were being attacked. No, these guys were definitely just some goons they threw together."

"Even so, if there was going to be a "hand-off" as you described, the humans that would have taken you might have been more highly trained individuals who could have had the means to keep you under a tight control," Optimus added.

"What could a few humans do that would keep her under their provision?" Ironhide asked.

"I suppose a simple sedation would leave her docile enough to be restrained," Ratchet thought aloud.

"Whatever the means, I'm not concerned," Cat tried to reason, "The tracking unit that you've installed can track me anywhere to within three feet on this planet. That, and eventually, "she smirked, "sedatives wear off."

There was a long pause, obviously everyone was putting their minds to the challenges of what to do, now that they had known that the humans were reforming the S-Eleven organization...

"Cat," Optimus turned to the girl, "I'm sorry... But for now I'm going to have to ask that you not leave the base for any reason. Not even to visit Sam and Mikaela."

Cat's mouth nearly dropped to the floor, "WHAT?! What the hell for?!"

"In light of these events, we have no knowledge as to what Sector Eleven has planned, nor do we know who or where they are. It's better to take a precaution now, and see if we can find more about who is behind the reformation," the leader explained.

"This is so unfair! They didn't even know I was still alive until now! The two guys that are in custody are the only ones that know I exist, and they're under tight guard!" Cat shouted.

"Yes, and now the two that know, know what you look like, and probably know where you've been hiding. They could have already silently provided that information to someone before being put away. Give us a chance to see if we can find who is behind this," Prowl added.

Cat sighed in defeat... It was obvious that they all agreed with this decision, and she was sure that they'd make certain to keep her where she could be watched...

"Fine... I'll give you guys just a little while, but I'm not going to stay locked up for long..." she whined.

Optimus smirked, "Of that I'm sure of. I'm going to go have a chat with our government contacts and get an investigation team started. Unless anyone has anything else to report, you're all dissmissed."

Cat let her head fall against the table with a loud 'Thud' as everyone besides a few left.

"Don't ya worry, girl," Jazz patted her on the back, "We'll find out what's goin' on."

"If it's not tomorrow, then it's not soon enough..." Cat griped.

"How about we help ya with fixin' up your bike?" Jazz offered, remembering that Cat's Hyabusa had sustained some scrapes and minor damage in past events.

"That's all right, Jazz... If you guys help it'll get done in a day... If I did it alone I could probably squeeze out a week or two by taking my time..."

"Well, if all else fails, we can certainly _find_ a way to keep you busy," Sideswipe joked.

Jazz and Cat looked to the twins with not so eager stares.

"Er... great..."

-End Flashback-

And after nearly two months, Cat had had enough. She only saw Sam and Mikaela twice, the rest of the time they were busy with school and looking into colleges. After she had to turn down the invitation to the Witwicky household for the large meal in which they called "Thanksgiving", Cat felt as if she had given the Autobots and the government their due time, and no one had found _anything_. So once she had a new offer from Ron and Judy for this "Christmas" holiday that Mikaela had to explain to her over and over again about, she had made the intention of packing and leaving the base for as long as she could. Using the excuse of human holidays seemed to be the perfect way of getting some time away from her giant robot family.

Much to Optimus' and Ratchet's dismay, Cat had actually formed a bond with two of their not-so-favorite slaggers, the twins. During her two month "grounding" she had gotten bored to the point that she was willing to do what was necessary to create trouble. And of course, trouble was their middle name. Cat ended up with punishment detail more than she would have liked. Punishment that included having to work with the maitenance crew, cleaning the med bay, and cleaning Optimus' office. Of course the pranks included priceless moments such as Optimus opening the door to his office and having thousands upon thousands of multi-colored balloons come pouring out at him, welding Ratchet's tools to the med bay ceiling, and streaks of paint splattered down through almost every corridor of the base.

Of course, there were going to be some protests about Cat leaving. First, she heard nothing but reasons as to why she couldn't leave. Second, she was asked to ensure that she had one of them to accompany her. But when it finally came to the point that she had made them understand that she would be going it alone, she heard silence.

Cat knew that telling the guys of her dream was probably going to cost her more time off of the roads, so she kept her mouth shut on the issue... Besides, it wasn't threatening anyone, right? As long as she could control the energy that was within her, she could reason to herself that she was safe to be around everyone on the outside. It wasn't as if the surges that she had produced so far caused any damage. Sure, the last time it may have knocked several of the Autobots offline, but it didn't cause any damage. Besides... It was hard enough having to try and sort out why the other projects were involved, or why Five was trying to push her into killing those two humans. Revealing her dreams would only cause an uproar if they had known that Five was trying to communicate with her from beyond the grave.

Rotten licked Cat's hand, causing her to return from her thoughts. She looked down to the large pup and scratched his ears lovingly.

"I know _you_ won't say anything while I'm gone," she joked.

A knock at the door.

Cat and Rotten looked over to her apartment entrance as she got up and walked over to it. Unlocking the door and opening it a crack, Cat smirked and opened it the rest of the way.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here so early?" she asked.

The muscle-bound holoforms of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker walked in.

A month after everything had calmed down in the Dam from the original, Cat decided to spend some time working on a newer, safer, hologram projector. With the aid of some of the human technicians, and with Optimus' and Ratchet's approval, they were able to create a fully functional hologram matter projector. Even Bumblebee participated in it once it was sure that they wouldn't falter.

"We were just thinking," Sideswipe began.

Cat sighed, "I'm sorry guys, but whatever prank you have planned will have to wait. I thought I told you that I was going to the Witwicky's house for the holidays?"

"We weren't going to ask you to help us with a prank... this time..." Sunny had that "pondering" expression for a moment.

"We wanted to know if you wanted any help getting your things to Tranquility," Sideswipe mentioned.

"Oh. No, I don't need any help. I had the gifts and my clothing shipped there a few days ago so I could ride the bike out. The stuff should be there by now."

--

-In Tranquility-

Sam had just gotten home from school when he noticed all of the gifts and bags of luggage that had arrived from the Dam. It looked as though Judy had already taken the gifts out of the big boxes that they had been shipped in.

"Wow... Those are some pretty large things that Cat sent over..." His childlike curiosity couldn't help but wonder what was under all of that shiny green and red wrapping paper.

Sam looked around and saw that the house was quiet and empty.

"...Just a peek couldn't hurt..." he reached for one of the large boxes that was marked with his name on it.

"Samuel James Witwicky! You touch just _one_ of those gifts and you won't live to _see_ Christmas!" Judy's voice boomed from the other end of the house.

Sam reeled back his hand quickly after being caught and asked Mojo quietly, "How the hell does she know when I do that?"

Little Mojo just cocked his head in confusion and watched as Sam grabbed his school gear and ran upstairs.

--

-Back at the Dam-

"I thought I told you that too?" Cat asked as she walked into the kitchen area and poured a cup of strong coffee.

"You had it shipped?" Sunny asked.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised what kind of things UPS will ship," Cat smirked.

"Was that a good idea? I mean won't they get damaged?" Sides asked.

Cat wondered if there was a motive for the boys to be there, "That's why I had everything insured... Is there something wrong?" she sipped her coffee.

"No... " They both answered.

Now she was _sure_ that something was on their minds.

"What do you two _really_ want?" Cat asked with a mild expression of suspicion on her face.

"Nothing..." They both answered again.

"Guys..." she crossed her arms.

"Well... Maybe we should go with you anyway? We haven't been to Tranquility yet and this would be a good time for someone to show us where it is," Sides reasoned.

"Show you were it is? You have a guidance system that makes NASA look like a LeapFrog progam! Why would you need me to show you where it is?"

"Er... We uh..." Sunny looked to Sides who shrugged.

"Who sent you?" Cat asked.

"No one!" They put their hands up in defense, adding to Cat's suspicion that they were lying.

Cat sighed and asked, "Optimus or Ratchet?"

"... Actually it was Prowl's idea..." Sideswipe admitted in defeat.

Cat shook her head and said, "Should have known..."

"Well he's not all wrong!" Sunny said in their defense.

"Yeah, Cat. Don't you think that it's a bad idea for you to be out alone? We haven't found anything about Sector Eleven yet, and as far as we know, they could be watching you!" Sideswipe agreed.

"I have my doubts that they know where I'm at... I've given you guys due time to find out something, and no one can seem get any kind of information. I'm done waiting!" Cat put her foot down on the matter, "Besides, you guys need to stay here to take turns taking care of Rotten. Since I can't take him on the bike he has to stay here, and he needs to be taken outside to do his business and be played with every couple of hours."

"The others can take care of Rotten, and we can take you to Tranquility," Sunny suddenly realized the mistake that he had just made.

Cat turned her head to glare at the two.

"I. don't. need. to be. _taken_. _anywhere_..." She walked back to her bedroom and slammed the door.

"Smooth bro..." Sideswipe shook his head as he and Sunny walked out of Cat's apartment.

--

Cat's body twisted at the hips as she bent to the side, dodging a near blow to the back, one of the shadows having just tried to take a pre-emptive attack. Cat swung her torso up and around, her hips following as she picked up her legs and swung them into a powerful roundhouse kick to the shadow. It disappeared in it's defeat, only to have another appear to Cat's right, building up and running towards her. She ran towards the shadow, watching as it reeled back a punch. Cat ducked and sommersaulted beneath it and at the end of the roll put her hands on the ground, bringing her feet around and sweeping the legs out from underneath it, causing it to disappear. Cat smirked, swear pouring down her face as she allowed the lens in her left eye to narrow back down to it's normal depth range. She shook her brunette locks out of her face, which were also drenched with sweat. She placed her hands on her hips as she took a moment to catch her breath.

Cat walked over to a safe zone where she had a remote, which controlled the the projector program. She was about to initiate another battle when the large doors to the basement facility opened, several large, robotic footsteps could be heard. Cat turned and saw the faces of Jazz, Bluestreak and Ironhide.

"Hey guys," Cat turned back to her controller, looking through the training options that it offered.

"Girl, you've been in here all afternoon," Jazz pointed out.

"And?" Cat smirked, "How does that differ from my normal daily habits? I won't have the projectors at the Witwicky's so this is the last day that I can use them for a while."

"You don't normally stay here for long unless you're taking out some aggression," Ironhide mentioned.

Cat frowned, "Not today... Just getting some good training in..."

"You're going to be exhausted for your trip aren't you?" Bluestreak asked.

Cat didn't lift her eyes from the control unit as she replied, "I can take a beating worse than this and still stay on my feet for some extra time," she yawned.

"When are ya leavin'?" Jazz asked.

Cat looked at her watch and replied, "I thought I'd take off at about Five o'clock at the latest. That way I'd still get there before about Eight."

Ironhide looked over to Jazz, "We won't have time for this little idea of yours Jazz."

Cat lifted her eyes from the remote and looked up to her friends, "What plan?"

Jazz smirked, a glint of light passed quickly over his blue visor, "Well, you've been trainin' quite a bit lately... So I thought we could try something just to see where ya stood."

A slow, but devious smile appeared on Cat's face.

--

The large, old training facility was well lit as Cat stood on one end of the cracked, concrete floor; as well as Jazz and Ironhide took up residency in the opposing corners. Bluestreak had objected to this little training excersize but agreed to hold the remote that controlled the training functions.

**"Are we sure that this is a good idea? I mean, I know that you guys said she could really pull some punches before Mission City, but-" **Bluestreak connected a private link to Jazz and Ironhide.

**"You heard Optimus. He wants to know how she'll stand up to a Cybertronian. Besides, we're not gonna go very far. We just need to evaluate her," **Jazz replied.

**"Think of it this way Blue, if she _did_ run into a Decepticon, training her like this will help prepare her. Not that it'll happen. We haven't seen even a faint signal of them on the Earth's surface!"** Ironhide reassured.

**"Don't get too sure of yourself yet, Hide... Let's not press our luck on that one..." **Jazz replied.

"We doing this or what?!" Cat yelled from the other end of the compound. She was standing with her arms crossed, tapping one of her toes.

**"Go for it Blue,"** Jazz nodded.

Bluestreak nodded, unsure of himself, as he imput the command in the remote to start. The lights faded down to a very low lit surrounding. Cat's left eye dilated, the specialized lenses scanning the area and her opponents. Cat realized just how stealthy the large masses of her friends were as their lighter steps caught her somewhat off guard. She ran towards Ironhide, using his larger form as an advantage, dogding throws from his fists and running between his massive legs. She couldn't jump quite like she used to, but she quickly climbed up his back as he swung around, trying to reach for her. Jazz was fast approaching, leaving Cat not much time as she reached her right arm under Hide's armor, pulling some of the wiring in his shoulders, which disabled his right arm. It fell to his side as his blue optics looked shocked at the limp ligament.

Jazz was only feet away from Cat as she took the highest leap that she could off of Hide and was moved out of the way in time for a light hit to land on Hide's back, scuffing up the paint on his Topkick's armor.

"Hey!" the weapons specialist glared at the smaller Autobot.

"I'll apologize lata Hide!" Jazz smirked as he turned to follow Cat.

Running towards the farthest wall from them, Cat looked behind her to see that the special ops officer was closing in on her and fast! She pumped her legs as fast as she was able to and was just about to make a jump to the wall to bound back off of it when she slipped and fell, sliding along the floor and hitting the wall face first. She quickly recovered and stood but saw a lingering shadow on the ground below her. Turning away from the wall, Jazz's tall form was towering overhead. She was cornered.

"Now what ya got girl?" His azure visor looked proud as he stared down at her.

Cat put her back directly in the corner of the two walls, as she quickly thought of a plan. Jazz's clawed hand was about to grab her when she jumped away and landed onto his wrist joints, latching on and reaching in to pull the sensitive wiring under his own armor. Jazz's optics widened under his visor and without a second thought, he flicked his arm up and over his head, not realizing the mistake he had just made.

Cat was caught off guard as Jazz's arm flicked her up and away from him, hard. She could feel the speed that he had put behind the throw as the momentum around her built up. Her flight quickly started to come to a fall, and she couldn't stop it. Falling just short of landing and rolling on the ground, Cat actually hit the farthest wall, just a few feet up from the concrete flooring. She hit the wall with a great amount of force and fell to the ground with a hard 'thump'.

"Jazz!" Ironhide almost couldn't believe what he had just seen.

"I- I didn't mean ta!" he and Hide ran over to where Cat was laying motionless.

"Cat?" Jazz bent down to her and rolled her onto her back, her eyes beginning to flutter open.

"Now you've gone and done it!" Bluestreak ran in, approaching the two.

"Quiet, Blue!" Jazz scolded, already feeling a bit low for what he had just done.

Cat regained her cognitive thought and, with the aid of Jazz, sat up and shook off the pain from hitting the wall.

"Ya all right?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine..." she quickly stood back up, looking unphased by what had just happened.

"Ya sure? Maybe we should take ya to-" The special ops officer's scanners weren't nearly was thorough as the medic's but he was interrupted by the girl waving a hand up to him.

"I said I'm all right!" Cat griped.

"I'm sorry girl. I wasn't thinkin' right when I did that," Cat could hear the remorse in his vocalizer and smirked.

"If a hit like that was going to kill me, it would have happened a long time ago," she joked, "So how about another go?"

"I think we're done for today..." Jazz decided.

"What?! Why?!" she frowned.

"Maybe _you_ don't need to go and see Ratchet, but _I_ do!" Ironhide pointed to his disabled arm.

Cat smirked once more, "All right, all right. But when I come back, you'd better be ready for me!"

Cat walked out of the training room, picking up a towel and wiping the layer of sweat from off of her face and arms, "I need a shower..." she mumbled.

As the doors closed behind her, the three Autobots looked to each other with unsure glances.

"So? What did you get out of that?" Bluestreak wanted to know what the two had gotten out of the battle.

Jazz sighed, "I dunno. The way she got to Hide was a good start but..."

"But if there were more than one Decepticon, depending on who it was, she could be in a lot of trouble," Ironhide finished Jazz's thoughts.

--

Cat got back to her apartment quickly, getting in and locking the door behind her. The larger form of Rotten bombarded her from the side, jumping up and squealing in excitement at her return.

"Not now, boy," Cat gently nudged the dog off of her as she went to the kitchen and threw the soaked towel on the counter, her attention quickly going to her right, false appendage.

She slowly lifted the arm, watching as the shoulder joint smoothly compensated to provide the leverage so that the rest of the arm pulled up. Cat's worry was about to fade when she felt the joint hitch and her arm stop in it's tracks. She was only able to lift her wrist to elbow level before she couldn't manage to pull it up any further.

"Damn it..." she seethed, "I can't fix this myself... But if I have Ratchet do it, he'll insist that I stay another night until he's finished with it and I promised Judy that I would be there tonight at the latest..." She flexed the fingers on the false arm and felt a small bit of relief that her hand was fully functional, even if the shoulder joint wasn't.

"I'll let it go until I get back... I won't need to do much with it while I'm there anyway. I can make a small fix to it to keep it from being anymore damaged and then tell Ratchet that I damaged it falling off of the bike or something... It'll do for now..."

Cat looked at her watch and saw that she had two hours before she had to be on the road.

"I'll take a shower and a quick power nap and head out on time," Cat decided.

--

Cat grumbled and mumbled to herself as she drove down the highway.

"(Grumble)...Let me oversleep... (grumbles)... Should have said something... (grumbles)... Now I'm going to be late..." She growled to herself.

Cat had fallen asleep but had forgotten to set her alarm. She woke up just in time to notice that it was past nine-thirty in the evening. Ignoring Prowl's warnings to slow down or to wait until the morning to leave, Cat called Sam and let him know that she'd just use the extra key hidden in the fake birdhouse on the back patio to get in late, and that they should just go to sleep. Although she had already called ahead to let everyone know that she was coming in late, it didn't stop her from overreacting and rush out of the Dam's garage into the open desert.

While throwing a fit, Cat almost didn't catch a sight that she wouldn't have seen with just her human eye. Through the fog she could see something strange... Something that had it's own energy signature. An energy signature that was similar to what she normally saw with the Autobots, except it was a bit different...

A memory of Five's suddenly poked through her mind. It was during Mission City. She saw the Autobots and their energy signatures, and then she saw the vision of Megatron just before he stomped on Five, sending her close to death. It was all so very strange to see and feel it in her bones. She could almost hear the weight of Megatron's foot cracking her bones and tearing into her flesh...

"... It's a Decepticon!" Cat sped faster towards the energy, activating the emergency call button in the small panel on her right limb, "That's definitely a Decepticon! That must be what's bringing one of Five's memories back to me!"

Cat scanned the area and saw that there was also a human in the vicinity. Someone was in danger...

"Great... Just what I need! Someone to get in the way!" Cat growled as she closed in on the section of Highway 93.

She saw an old car flipped over and human arms struggling to free themselves from the wreckage.

"Run! Get out of here!" a male's voice screeched in terror. It wasn't a voice that Cat recognized.

Even in the thick fog, Cat could see the dark form of Barricade. She never really had a close encounter with him, but she was familiar with the police cruiser form.

'He does look like Prowl!' Cat snickered to herself.

Cat's bike came to a stop and she heard the male's voice again.

"Didn't you hear me?! Get out of here before you get killed!" This human was very demanding for someone who was in no position to be barking orders.

"Stupid human! You should listen to good advice!" Barricade advised in a deep, baritone and angry voice.

Cat smirked and undid the strap under her helmet, pulling it from her head and letting her brunette hair fall over her shoulders. She looked up to the massive form of the Decepticon, taking in mental notes of how much different the detail was on Barricade's armor than what was on Prowl's armor. Barricade, while transformed into his bipedal mode, had more black and silver armor than an even toning between the plating.

"What's the matter, Barricade?! Don't you remember me?!" Cat yelled up to him.

Her joy only increased just that much when she saw the look of horror on his cold, metal face. Oh yeah, he remembered.

"No... It can't be! Megatron killed you! How is this possible?!" Barricade stepped back.

Cat frowned. 'He thinks I'm Five! I can use that to my advantage'

"It takes more than a scrap heap of metal to keep me down!" She threw down her helmet and began stepping towards the Decepticon, "And now it's time to show you what happens to bad little Decepticons when they toy with humans!"

Cat almost broke out in a fit of laughter when she saw Barricade transform and listened as his engine roared to life, the Mustang police cruiser's tail lights disappeared like a ghost in the fog.

Cat was about to hop on her bike and pursue Barricade when she felt the phone in her pocket vibrate as it rang. She quickly grabbed her bluetooth device and strung it over her ear, pressing the "answer button". She already knew who it was.

"Yeah, Optimus it's me"

"Cat, we've just received the signal from your tracking unit. Are you all right?" She could hear the voices of the others in the background as well. It sounded as if they were waiting for the orders to deploy out to her location.

"Yeah I activated my emergency alert," she replied.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Well, I'm afraid that I've had a sighting of Barricade..."

"Barricade?!" she could hear the others suddenly go silent.

"Calm down! I'm fine! It looks like he's headed to Boulder City. It's a small town so he's probably not going to stay there if he's afraid that I'll come after him"

"Did he attack you?" he asked.

"No, it was pretty funny actually. He didn't seem to like the fact that I'm alive and he took off like a bat out of hell!"

"... I don't understand... How could a winged creature rise from the-" he sounded confused.

"It's an expression Optimus…" Cat could have kicked herself for using a turn of phrase when she knew very well how the Autobots took to those kinds of things.

"Are there any injured humans?" Optimus asked, worried that there might have been a small version of Mission City.

"Human injuries? I don't know…" She turned and looked towards the human who had crawled out of his car and was staring at her looking somewhat confused.

"Hey! You okay?!" she yelled.

"D-Does it look like… I'm… Okay?!" the boy yelled angrily.

Cat turned back away and sighed, "It'd probably be best if you called an emergency vehicle out here. I got a guy out here who's car rolled over."

"Prowl's already called for emergency vehicles, so they should be closing in on your location at any moment," Optimus informed her.

"Okay…" Cat sighed.

"Just stay at that location and wait, with the human, for the emergency units to arrive. We'll be going to Boulder City to look for Barricade ourselves," Optimus ordered.

"Why would I wait? I'm going after Barricade, someone will be out here in a-"

"Absolutely not!" was his response.

"Why not?!"

"It's too dangerous for you to approach Barricade by yourself! After the emergency units arrive, head straight to the Witwicky's and don't you _dare_ go after Barricade alone!"

"Oh, come on! I could take him if I wanted to and-"

"No!" he put his foot down on the matter.

"It's not like I'm-" she tried to argue.

"Catherine Andrews, if you even so much as _think_ of disobeying me-" he began.

"All right all right! Don't blow a gasket, okay?" Cat could already hear him saying something silly along the lines of telling her that she wouldn't be able to leave the Dam again for months.

"Just go to the Witwicky's and don't argue!" he ordered.

"Okay, bye..." she turned around, looking towards the human who was still staring at her. She could tell that he had a mixture of confusion and complete shock, so she took off her rider's jacket to cover him up in the cool night to perhaps help calm him down.

"Sorry you had to see that guy. It's a lot of uh… stuff… to explain," she said calmly as she laid the jacket over him.

Cat noticed the odd way that he was staring at her metal arm. It wasn't the way that people who didn't know her normally stared at it. It was as if he... had seen it before...

"S-Seven? Is that you?" he asked in a small voice.

Cat couldn't even have described how shocked she was. Her heart felt like it had stopped completely, her breathing hitched, and her eyes were wide. Who _was_ this guy?!

"Is it… really you?" he asked again.

"Who the hell are you?!" Cat yelled, backing up a little. He looked too young to ever have worked at the Dam.

"You probably don't remember me… We met when… we were six years old… I'm Evan… Do you remember?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"I… I-uh…" Cat wasn't sure what the think, her eyes searched around on the ground going back and forth as if hoping the answer to what he was talking about would jump up at her.

"Seven, it's me… You don't remember… do you?" he asked.

Cat heard the approaching ambulances and decided to take off. She looked down to the boy and backed up. Turning to run, she picked up her helmet, quickly shoved it on and jumped on her bike, burning rubber as she took off. She was able to get away just before the paramedics pulled up and jumped out of their rig. She looked behind her one last time as the fog seemed to just envelope around the boy and the ambulance. All she knew was that she shouldn't have been there. She had done what Optimus asked her to do, which was stay until the units had arrived. She didn't realized that she had forgotten to take her jacket until she had been driving for more than twenty minutes.

The exit for Boulder City approached quickly and Cat slowed down and came to a full stop after pulling over to the shoulder. She was certain that Barricade would have gone this way to get off of the highway quickly and make a dash to safety. It made more sense than the idea of him just flying down the interstate with no where in mind to go.

'Optimus told me not to interfere... I should probably just go on to the Witwicky's... But...' She jostled her right shoulder a little and still felt the metal hitch. It was still damaged, but she really wanted to check it out. She was certain that she could take on Barricade by herself and defeat him!... But the guys would surely chew her out if she tried to do it alone...

What to do...

--

Chapter Teaser!

Sam had awoken, for some odd reason he was having trouble sleeping. Something told him that there was something amiss. He looked over to his alarm clock and saw the bright green numbers shining in the darkness. It was nearly two in the morning. Cat! He realized that she was probably there by now and he rolled out of bed. Maybe he had just heard her walking through the house and, in a light sleep, woke to her footsteps on the hardwood floors.

Sam stepped lightly down the hallways, stepping over the areas in the floorboards that he knew would make loud creaking noises. He walked down the hall to the guest room that Cat normally stayed in and saw that the door was still wide open. That's odd... Whenever she slept here she had the door closed...

He looked into the room and saw nothing but darkness, so he flipped the light switch on, thinking that if he woke Cat he'd apologize and go back to bed.

The room was empty.

"Where the hell is she?" he asked himself... Surely she should have gotten here by now...

--

**For those of you who don't know, or don't remember, the other side of this story can be found in Chapter 3: Meeting You Again.**


	19. Disobey

Hey guys and gals! I'm starting to get back into a groove with having some time to put this story together a little more! yay! However I had some of it written to a thumb drive and... gulp... I've seemed to have misplaced it... But while I spend my time tearing up my house looking for it, you can enjoy this post!

By the way, the poll that's in my profile will be closed on December 1st, so if you haven't voted, go for it! When it's closed you'll be able to see the results!

Enjoy!

FORD B: I'll try to keep up with writing bits for the Witwicky story, but I kind of just write those as I go along, so they may be few and far between for now, but I'll do my best!

GrimlockX4: Can't say that I'd blame the Autobots for it either ;)

On a side note, Barricade has become my absolute favorite character! Not because of the shows or the movie, but because I have fallen in love in the new mustangs! Have any of you checked out the new Shelby GT500 KR Cobra?? The only Ford (Found On Road Dead) I'd ever buy would be the Shelby. I just want to hear it purr... Like a kitty on Steroids!! (Drools)

--

Barricade had done just as Cat thought he would, and took the first exit from the highway into Boulder City. However, instead of staying within the confines of the city limits, he took a "shortcut" through the desert just south of the city. He hadn't been able to pick up any Autobot signatures for several months, and he couldn't pick up any nearby now, but he was sure that with the appearance of that lunatic human woman, there would be an Autobot near. It was a chance that he was unwilling to take for the time being. The last known presence of another Decepticon was just after Mission City, when Starscream had left the Earth's atmosphere, but not before promising to return. Return for what, Barricade wasn't sure. However he wanted to stick around on this disgusting planet just long enough to find out what Starscream's ultimate plan was to be.

Megatron's downfall was still prominant in Barricade's mind. How that pathetic human, the Witwicky child, was ever able to bring him down was beyond his logic processors understanding. It weighed heavily on him, just the thought of a human being able to perform such acts such as that was a thought best left alone... He was sure that he had just slipped by an untimely death by escaping the human who had taken Starscream's own cranial unit right off of his shoulders and then revived him not but a day later.

But the question still remained... How was that worm of a human still in existance? He was sure that Megatron had killed her just before being taken down by the power of the Allspark... How was it that she was still online?... Was the leader of the Decepticons that unaware that he was not able to destroy her?

"Frag it all to the pit!" Barricade scorned as he stopped in the middle of the desert and transformed back into his bipedal form.

If only he had Frenzy... The little fragger was annoying, but he could find information within the human network like nobody's business. If he had him around, he could probably have found out what that woman was doing still alive and well. He was sure that the Autobots had something to do with it... Autoscum... Vile creations of Primus who fought against the Decepticons for the rightful ownership of the Allspark, which now lies in ruin.

"F-f-frenzy find location of B-b-barricade, Decepticon!"

Barricade turned towards the annoying, yet familiar sound of Frenzy's vocalizer. The small, silver form of the mini-bot was staring up at Barricade, an evil little smirk graced his faceplates.

"But how are _you_ still online?! How is any of this possible?!" Barricade seethed.

Frenzy used his wireless communications to send Barricade files of his latest memories. From the moment he awoke in the cell, to his wandering around the base and running into Sam and Mikaela. When he showed him the images of Cat shooting a large calibur weapon at the small bot, Barricade visibly flinched. He saw the pleased look on her face after she had shot Frenzy, thinking that she had damaged him. Frenzy showed him the images all the way up to the shocked look on Bumblebee's face when he saw the two battle. Barricade thought back to the image of Cat raising to the weapon and remembered the look of that yellow optic... Wait... Just the one yellow optic? He could have sworn that both of the human's optics were yellow...

"Human f-female not the s-s-same!" Frenzy's vocalizer clicked and whirred.

"What are you talking about? Of course it's the same human! I saw what she was capable of myself as she cleaned Starscream's cranial unit off him! She stood upon his shoulder plating just after the deed had been done!" he growled.

Frenzy then showed him the documents of her, including the reports of what had transpired in Mission City and her citizenship papers along with her birth certificate.

"This h-h-human d-different one!" the mini bot clicked again.

Barricade thought carefully and then realized that there _was_ another human similar to the one that he was thinking of, "The other one... That one was weaker... Ah, yes! She was the one that Blackout was able to steal away from the Autoscum during the fight! She seemed easily brought down! Not only that, but if this human has the same abilities to _revive_ a Cybertronian... _Megatron_ may be able to lead us once again!

Frenzy cackled with laughter in agreement.

"So..." Barricade smirked, "That woman _lives_ with the Autoscum..."

--

Sam had awoken, for some odd reason he was having trouble sleeping. Something told him that there was something amiss. He looked over to his alarm clock and saw the bright green numbers shining in the darkness. It was nearly two in the morning. Cat! He realized that she was probably there by now and he rolled out of bed. Maybe he had just heard her walking through the house and, in a light sleep, woke to her footsteps on the hardwood floors.

Sam stepped lightly down the hallways, stepping over the areas in the floorboards that he knew would make loud creaking noises. He walked down the hall to the guest room that Cat normally stayed in and saw that the door was still wide open. That's odd... Whenever she slept here she had the door closed...

He looked into the room and saw nothing but darkness, so he flipped the light switch on, thinking that if he woke Cat he'd apologize and go back to bed.

The room was empty.

"Where the hell is she?" he asked himself... Surely she should have gotten here by now...

The sounds of a rowdy motorcycle engine pulled down the driveway, which sent Sam dashing down the stairs. He opened the back door and heard the engine cut off, but didn't see anything. He looked around and quickly spotted Cat, sitting on her bike, leaning into the handles but unmoving. She wasn't wearing her rider's jacket, which had him confused. Had she already been to the house and left again for something? He only stood and watched for a moment as she still hadn't moved an inch. It was as if she were deep in thought.

Before Sam could say anything, Mojo ran underneath his feet and out into the driveway, beginning to bark enthusiastically at the girl.

"Mojo! Shh!" Sam ran out to the dog and picking him up just a few feet away from Cat.

"Hey..." Sam began.

Cat suddenly jerked out of her thoughts and looked over to Sam with a surprised look.

"Oh, Uh... Hey..." she replied reaching under the bike with her foot and pulling out the kickstand and setting the bike carefully on it's stand. She then took her helmet off and attached it to the locking hook under the secondary seat on the motocycle.

"Something the matter?" he asked, holding the squirming bundle of Mojo.

Cat smiled faintly, making Sam believe that she was putting up her infamous front, "Isn't there always something the matter?"

Sam gave a curt laugh and replied, "What is it _this_ time?"

Cat looked to him and said, "Let's talk about it in the morning... After I've had a few hours to sleep on it..."

"Where's your jacket?" Sam asked as they walked inside the house.

Cat stopped in her tracks.

"Uh, it's... I... I guess I lost it..."

Sam surveyed the girl, his eyes widened, "Your arm is all red!" he reached out and touched her only human arm, "You're freezing!"

Cat gave an empty laugh and replied, "Yeah, driving a hundred and twenty miles an hour down a highway in forty-eight degree weather will do that to a person..."

Sam watched as Cat walked up the stairs and heard the guest room door close behind her gently, so as not to wake anyone else... Bee! Surely he would know what was going on!

Sam ran back outside to the garage where Bumblebee was parked next to his father's porsche. He opened the door and looked over to the high-end Camaro.

"Bee? You awake?" Sam asked.

Bumblebee's hologram suddenly appeared just in front of the teen. His hologram was tall and as muscular as the rest of them were. He was wearing a white muscle tee shirt with loose blue jeans. His hair was a mop of messy blonde, his eyes were (of course) sky blue, and he had a small tattoo of the Autobot insignia on the back of his neck.

"Geez man! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Sam jumped when he saw him appear.

"What are you doing up, Sam? It's a little early for you to be out of your recharge cycle isn't it?" the blond's head cocked in confusion.

"I just woke up a few minutes ago... Thought I'd see if you knew what was going on with Cat," he asked.

Bumblebee's eyes flickered with realization, "She's finally arrived?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, she called a few hours ago and said she'd be late, but she just now got here and she's putting up one of those fronts. She didn't want to say what was wrong, and she didn't have her biker jacket," he explained.

"... I received a transmission from Jazz not too long ago about a sighting of Barricade," Bee began.

Sam didn't say anything, but his eyes widened in shock and terror.

"Apparently, Cat is the one who came into contact with him. However, she claimed that she never battled with him. The others are in Boulder City looking for him right now," Bumblebee explained, a frown on his hologram's face.

"Bee she _must_ have had some sort of run in with him!" Sam pointed out.

Bumblebee sighed, "Optimus ordered her not to even go looking for Barricade after he fled from her..."

Sam crossed his arms and asked, "This _is_ Cat we're talking about, right?"

--

"Any sign of him yet?" Optimus asked through the comminications link.

The Autobots had been searching within several miles of Boulder City. A sighting of a Decepticon was no laughing matter to them. No matter who it was, whether it be one as lowly as Barricade, or one who was higher on the totem pole of commands such as Starscream. One little claim of Decepticon activity meant that any number of humans could have been in danger. It was one of the reasons why staying on Earth was such a good idea. If they had decided to go back to searching the galaxy for more Autobots, they would have left the planet in danger of attacks from any Decepticon who was willing to take a little revenge for the fall of their leader.

"I have found traces of Barricade's spark signature, however it abruptly ends just south of the city," Ratchet replied.

"Optimus, I believe that Barricade is using a dampening field to drown out his spark signature. That may be the reason as to why we haven't been able to track him so far," Wheeljack added.

Sunny and Sides were west of the city, Ironhide and Prowl searched north of it, Optimus searched within the city's confines, Jazz and Bluestreak were just east of Boulder, and Ratchet and Wheeljack were just south. They had spread far to cover as much ground as possible, but were all on an open communications link to keep in contact just in case anything was found.

"But why would he use the dampening field to cover his tracks up until now?" Sideswipe asked.

"The better question would be, why would he stay in hiding just to come out and attack a random human?" Prowl suggested.

"Decepticons never usually make any sense..." Ironhide grumbled.

"Perhaps not, Ironhide, but somehow I doubt that Cat's happening to be there was a coincidence," Optimus reminded.

"What about the human that Cat said he attacked?" Jazz asked.

"We don't know anything so far. The emergency unit that came to retrieve the human had already been and gone by the time that we had reached the accident scene," Prowl explained.

"I didn't see a vehicle rolled over either," Sunny griped.

"Humans have wreckers that come out to accident scenes and remove any vehicles involved in an accident in order to detain it as evidence for investigation, and to keep other humans from stealing parts or items that do not belong to them," Ratchet explained.

"Jazz, Bluestreak; I want you to look into where the emergency vehicle took this human and who it is, as well as look into the vehicle that this human was driving," Optimus ordered.

"We're on it!" Jazz replied.

"I believe I know the reason as to why Barricade has been using a dampening field up until now," Wheeljack began.

"Go on," Optimus replied.

"Barricade's been using high levels of the dampening field which blocks all forms of sensors. That would be the reason as to why we haven't been able to track him even with our highest level of scanners. Doing so would also block his own sensors from scanning anything outside of the barrier. If he let down this field barrier, it was so that he could conduct his own sensor readings," the scientist explained.

"I wonder what it was that he was trying to get readings on?" Ironhide thought aloud.

"Good question..." the leader agreed.

"Optimus... I have found something else," Ratchet realized.

--

Cat had closed the door behind her gently and walked straight to her bags, which looked as though had already been brought up to the room for her.

She gave a soft smile and thought, 'They don't have to do that for me...'

She went through the bags and found a sweater and a pair of thick fleece pajamas. She started shiver so badly that unzipping the bags became harder and harder to do. Somehow, though, she managed to grabbed the much needed items and change into them. She laid down in the twin bed and pulled the sheets around herself tightly, still shivering and shaking badly.

It was only a matter of minutes later that she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped. She reacted so quickly that she was out of the bed and standing up in a defensive position, with a growl and a snarling facial expression.

"Who the-?!" she started before realizing who it was and relaxing a little, "Damn it, Bumblebee..."

"I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized.

Cat sat back down on the bed, still shivering, "What do you want?"

"Sam was concerned about you, and it looks as though he had every right to be," he gave her a concerning look.

"I'm surprised you haven't gotten a message from one of the others yet," she avoided looking at him.

"I did, actually. I was told to stay and wait for your arrival to ensure that you would get here safely," he explained, "Are you all right? Barricade didn't attack you, did he?"

Cat smirked, "No, he ran away from me... He thought I was Five. Guess he thought I was going to take _his_ head off too."

Bumblebee's hologram crossed his arms, "And I suppose we're to believe that you never took pursuit of him even after ordered not to?"

Cat scowled and turned her back to Bumblebee, _really_ not interested in talking to him. However she knew that he wasn't just going to let her play this off.

"I _did_ go to look for him..." she whispered.

Bumblebee sighed and sat down on the bed just inches from Cat's back, "Why?"

"... Because he was getting away, and he's a Decepticon... I thought we _fought_ our enemies?" Cat seethed.

"We don't instigate a battle..." he replied quietly.

Cat swirled around on the bed and looked Bumblebee in the eyes, anger within her own, "_He _instigated the fight! I was going to finish it!"

"Exactly what would you have gotten from killing Barricade?" Bee asked.

"... I don't know... Look," Cat sighed, "I know that I'm supposed to learn how to be normal, but my training is hardwired into me Bee... And that training has always told me to eliminate enemies and threats to ensure-"

Bumblebee gently grabbed Cat's upper arm, making her stop her ranting. She glanced sharply at his human features, his azure eyes looking directly into her blue and yellow ones. Even through Cat's thick fleece pajama top and a sweater, he could feel her tremble.

"When are you going to stop believing that you're in the middle of a war every day of your life?" he asked.

Cat looked away for a moment. She knew that she should have stopped this paranoia long ago. But she looked back up to him and replied, "The day my past stops coming back to remind me of it, will be the day that I can breathe freely."

--

It was nearly sunrise, and Bumblebee was sitting outside of the garage in his Camaro form when he received an incoming signal.

**-Bumblebee, this is Optimus, come in-**

**"Bee here, go ahead Optimus"**

**-Has Cat arrived?-**

**"Yes sir, she's here. She arrived several hours ago. Has there been any other sightings of Barricade?"**

**-I'm afraid we've lost his signal once again. But at least we know, now, that he's still on the planet.-**

**"That doesn't make me feel any better about the humans being in danger if he appears again"**

**-Understood. From what Wheeljack has said, Barricade has been using a high intensity dampening field to flood his spark signature, keeping us from tracking him. And it looks as though he lowered this barrier to take sensor readings for a few moments. On what, we have yet to identify... However, we _did_ identify one thing...-**

**"What's that, sir?"**

**-While analyzing the area where Barricade was, Ratchet found tire tracks... Tire tracks of a specialized motorcycle. Apparently they are the same as the ones that are on Cat's own motorcycle.-**

**"... I'm afraid that I can confirm that, Optimus. Cat has admitted to me that she went beyond your orders and searched for Barricade in Boulder City, without any findings."**

**-...When I get my hands on that girl I'll-**

**"Sir, I think we should let this one go... for now."**

**-Explain, Bumblebee-**

**"When Cat arrived she seemed very... disturbed about something. When I got that little bit of information from her she told me that her training is responsible for the reason as to why she has the need to hunt down enemies. I believe that she's telling the truth. She wasn't necessarily trying to stand against your orders, so much as she felt as if she had a duty to uphold."**

**-Yes, however at some point, she is going to need to learn to trust the orders of-**

**"And she will. But I believe it will take some hard efforts to try and train her otherwise. As you are well aware of from working with some of our distressed soldiers in the past, this is not something that can be fixed easily."**

**-I suppose you're right... Although if I remember correctly, that kind of problem in some of our past Autobot soldiers led them to their deaths...-**

**"Let's hope that we can stop this in her before that happens this time, sir."**

**-Indeed. Even though it was always sad for the loss of an Autobot soldier, there was always more of their model. And in this case, she's the only human on this planet that's anything like her... Keep an eye on her Bumblebee.-**

**"I will, Optimus."**

**-Connection terminated-**

Bumblebee looked up to the guest room window and stared.

"There really _is_ only one of her..."

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat had been standing on the back porch of the Witwicky house. The back door was closed so that no one could see or hear her while she stayed away from the family's Christmas party. She knew that she would have to go back at some point, but she also knew that Sam was practically dying to go back to play his new game station, and the others were imersed in conversation with each other. That meant it would be some time before anyone realized that she was missing.

"Hey!" Mikaela's cheerful voice was heard.

... So much for having time before anyone noticed that she was missing...

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" Mikaela asked sweetly, wondering if Cat was still going over the short sighting of Barricade in her mind, "You okay?"

Cat could hear Mikaela step just next to her on the porch, but didn't look away from looking up at the night sky. It was strangely clear on such a cool evening. Even for California it was rather nice. Cat just let a cool breeze sway across her cheek without even so much as a muscle flexing in her jaw due to the cold.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cat answered.

"Well, what are you doing out here?" she asked again.

"I'm just... Not feeling up to being around so many people right now..." Cat replied quietly.

"You want to talk about it?" Mikaela pulled herself up on the wooden porch railing, seating herself next to Cat, waiting for a story of some sort.

Cat looked over to where Bumblebee was parked. She used the specialized scanner in her left eye to make sure that he was, indeed, deep in recharge. She didn't want to have a discussion in confidence with Mikaela if someone was going to be listening in. She was already sure that he had informed Optimus about her admitting to going after Barricade. Not that she could blame him, she usually found herself unable to lie to him either... at least when she was looking at him straight in the face...

Once she was sure that Bumblebee wouldn't be listening in on what she was about to say, she turned and looked to the awaiting teen.

"Can you keep a secret? I mean from Sam and the Autobots?" Cat asked.

Mikaela looked at her friend with sincere concern, "Yeah, sure. What is it?"


	20. Just Trust Me

Hey all! Thank you for all the reviews on both the Soul Recon and the Halloween special that I posted! If you haven't read the halloween special, you can always find it under the title **Our First Halloween** in my profile! Check it out!

FORD B: Definitely! I'll keep writing on it! :D

GrimlockX4: And more secrets to come ;)

Enjoy!

--------------

It was a long day for Cat, even though it was supposed to be a joyful holiday. Christmas morning had come faster than she imagined, and after no sleep, trying to figure things out, and watching the sunrise, Cat found herself being forced to open gifts. She received several accessories for her Hyabusa including a magnet bag to clip on the top of the motorcycle's gas tank, newer gloves, and other items. She'd given her gifts as well, Sam being the most satisfied with the five new games for the game system that his parents had gotten him. She had Sam send over the gifts to Mikaela as well so that she could open them on Christmas with her family. She had given Mikaela charms to go on the sterling silver charm bracelet that Sam had given to her on Christmas Eve. After a day of playing with her new gifts, it ended with a night of the Witwicky's family Christmas party. An event which Cat felt more adverse to being there for, however Sam's parents made it clear that it wasn't an option. Sam slumped his shoulders and had told Cat that she may as well gone along with it.

Cat had been standing on the back porch of the Witwicky house. The back door was closed so that no one could see or hear her while she stayed away from the family's Christmas party. She knew that she would have to go back at some point, but she also knew that Sam was practically dying to go back to play his new game station, and the others were imersed in conversation with each other. That meant it would be some time before anyone realized that she was missing.

"Hey!" Mikaela's cheerful voice was heard.

... So much for having time before anyone noticed that she was missing...

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" Mikaela asked sweetly, wondering if Cat was still going over the short sighting of Barricade in her mind, "You okay?"

Cat could hear Mikaela step just next to her on the porch, but didn't look away from looking up at the night sky. It was strangely clear on such a cool evening. Even for California it was rather nice. Cat just let a cool breeze sway across her cheek without even so much as a muscle flexing in her jaw due to the cold.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cat answered.

"Well, what are you doing out here?" she asked again.

"I'm just... Not feeling up to being around so many people right now..." Cat replied quietly.

"You want to talk about it?" Mikaela pulled herself up on the wooden porch railing, seating herself next to Cat, waiting for a story of some sort.

Cat looked over to where Bumblebee was parked. She used the specialized scanner in her left eye to make sure that he was, indeed, deep in recharge. She didn't want to have a discussion in confidence with Mikaela if someone was going to be listening in. She was already sure that he had informed Optimus about her admitting to going after Barricade. Not that she could blame him, she usually found herself unable to lie to him either... at least when she was looking at him straight in the face...

Once she was sure that Bumblebee wouldn't be listening in on what she was about to say, she turned and looked to the awaiting teen.

"Can you keep a secret? I mean from Sam and the Autobots?" Cat asked.

Mikaela looked at her friend with sincere concern, "Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Last night... When I came into contact with Barricade, he had harmed a human male in his own vehicle. After Barricade left, I was told to wait for the ambulance by Optimus," she began.

"Didn't you leave to look for Barricade anyway?" Mikaela asked, obvious that the secret was out.

Cat looked back to Mikaela and smiled, "Yeah, but this was before I did that..."

"Well? What happened?" Mikaela was getting anxious.

"I took my biker's jacket off to cover the kid and tried to calm him down but... Then he said something..." Cat turned away, looking back up at the sky.

"Said what?" the teen asked.

"He called me 'Seven'..." she explained.

Mikaela's eyes widened, "B-but... How would he have known to call you that?"

"I-... I don't know Mikaela... I was so stunned myself. He asked me if I remembered him and told me that his name was Evan. Saying something about we had met before..." Cat was at a near whisper now.

Mikaela scooted herself off of the railing and walked to Cat's side, staring at her deeply. She couldn't make sense of what Cat had just told her.

"Did he say anything else?" Mikaela asked.

"I didn't give him the chance to. I just got on my bike and left, even without my jacket," Cat replied.

"Maybe he's from Tranquility and saw the three of us out somewhere... Maybe he heard Sam or I call you-"

"No Mikaela..." Cat turned to look at her friend, "You and Sam stopped calling me Seven that morning that you two renamed me after we were ambushed by the Decepticons, remember? I'd remember if you had ever called me that afterward, and you haven't. The two of you haven't even so much as mentioned the number Seven. At least not around me. That reasoning would have made more sense if he had called me Cat... But he didn't..."

Mikaela's eyes darted around on the patio ground, and then back up to Cat, "Could he be someone who worked at the Dam before you escaped?"

"No... He had to have been about my age, no older than that. No one, my age, had ever worked there," Cat shook her head.

A long pause between the two, as they were both lost in thought for a few moments.

Mikaela looked up to Cat slowly and said, "You need to tell them..."

"No, no way," Cat answered firmly.

"Why not? They could probably help!" Mikaela grabbed a hold of Cat's wrist to break her out of her thoughts.

"Remember what happened the last time I told them about something coming back from the past? I was lucky I was able to talk Optimus and Prowl into letting me come out here for Christmas!" she explained.

"Cat, if there's someone out there who's trying to get to you, we need to find out who and why! The Autobots are just trying to protect you!" Mikaela reasoned.

"That's just it, Mikaela... I don't think that he was out to harm me... I think... I think I met him when I was little... And he remembered me somehow..." Cat explained.

Mikaela sighed, "So what are you going to do about it?"

Cat looked to her friend, "What?"

"Are you planning on chasing him down? Chasing down your past?" Mikaela brushed back a lock of her hair that had gotten in her eyes and stared at Cat.

"I don't know... I don't know what I'll do..." Cat looked back to the sky.

Mikaela looked up to the hazey night sky as well and crossed her arms as another stray wind passed through, a chill running up her spine.

"Well whatever you do, I'll keep your secret... But you have to tell me why you couldn't have at least trusted Sam about this," Mikaela insisted.

"Are you kidding? Do you even remember when I was living here? If Ratchet even suspected that I had done something out of the norm, he'd go straight to Sam, and he always found a way to get it out of him," she smirked.

"Oh, right... Well, you can trust me. I won't tell anyone," Mikaela promised.

"Thanks," Cat smiled softly.

"But just so you know, I'm upset that you won't tell the Autobots. They just want to find out what's going on and help you, and you won't give them the chance to," Mikaela lamented Cat just before she went back inside the house.

"Yeah, I know..." Cat sighed and looked back up to the night sky.

--------

New Year's Eve approached quickly. Cat made sure to stay on top of things around everyone. Keeping a smile on her face, going places with her two friends, helping Sam's parents with the housework, and even answering every phone call from any Autobot who "happened" to have some time on their hands to check up on her. However, any time spent alone, she usually would stare into nothing, or sit on the roof of the house at night, staring up at the sky. Mikaela did as she promised, and kept Cat's secret, even though she had qualms about doing so. Cat was pretty impressed with the way Mikaela could avoid the important questions that could possibly lead to revealing what had happened that night. She felt that she had made the right decision in trusting her friend with such important information.

Cat was up in her room. She had just gotten back from the motorcycle dealership and was carried a coat hanger with a black, plastic bag draped over the item that was hanging on it. She laid it out on the bed, about to take the item out of it's plastic haven when there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in!" Cat turned towards the entrance to see Judy walk in.

"I just got back from the store and Sam's not here. Do you mind helping me with the groceries?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll be down in a second," Cat replied, "Oh! Before I forget, I've decided that for most of the day, tomorrow, I'll be gone."

"You're not going to be here for your birthday?" Judy asked.

"I'll be back before evening, but I've got somewhere that I need to go. It'll just be for a few hours," she replied.

"Where are you going?" Judy asked.

"Just a little ways north of here. It's not more than a couple hours there and back. I just need to go and... see someone..." she trailed off.

"Well, all right. Just don't forget the birthday present that we have for you here!" Judy replied with a bright smile as she left Cat's room.

---

Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee had just pulled up behind Judy's car in the driveway. The two teens hopped out of the camaro with some bags of snacks.

"There you are, Sam!" Judy smiled as she grabbed a bag of groceries from her car, "New Year's snacks?"

"Yeah, we've got some stuff that we think Cat will like too," he replied.

Judy stopped her trek towards the house and looked back to her son, "But... Won't Cat be out for most of the day?"

"Out where?" Mikaela asked.

"...Well she just told me that she'd be gone until tomorrow night. Didn't you already know that?" Judy asked.

Sam and Mikaela looked to each other with confused expressions.

"Hey guys!" Cat smiled brightly as she walked out of the house towards Judy's car.

Cat grabbed a couple sacks from the trunk and looked towards her two friends, "Something wrong?"

"Uh, yeah. When were you planning on telling us that you weren't going to be here tomorrow?" Mikaela asked.

"Oh... Uh, I was going to tell you when you got home... And now you're here, and you know! Saves me some time!" Cat continued into the house, being followed by her friends.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"Up north," Cat replied as she sat the bags down on the table.

"Up north, where?" Mikaela pressed.

Cat sighed and turned to her friends, "I'm just going to be gone for a few hours. I need to go take care of something, it's not dangerous, I'm not going out to get revenge, and it's nothing for any of you to worry about since I'll be back before nightfall."

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Sam asked.

"I told you, I was going to tell you when you got back!" Cat replied.

"People don't normally decide to take a day-long trip out of the blue, so you've known for a while," Mikaela pointed out.

"Yeah, okay. I'll give you that," Cat thought, " but you have to believe me when I say that it's nothing that requires me needing assistance."

"Sam!" Judy called from outside, "Come and get these bags for me, please!"

Sam rolled his eyes and turned to go back out to the car.

Mikaela looked to make sure no one was looking and then approached closely to Cat and whispered, "This doesn't have anything to do with what we talked about last week does it?"

"What did we-" Cat looked to Mikaela and realization hit her, "Oh that... No, I haven't decided what I'm going to do about it."

"Then what are you-?" Mikaela started.

"It's got nothing to do with S-Eleven, or the Decepticons, okay? It's nothing bad, just something I want to do," she replied quietly.

Mikaela crossed her arms and looked away for a moment, "But you're going to be back tomorrow night, right?"

Cat smiled, "Yeah, I'll be back. I promise.... Oh! You and Sam should check out what I just got!"

--

The three, having helped Judy with putting away all of the groceries, were all in Cat's room, looking at the new item which was still wrapped in it's plastic.

"So what'd you get?" Sam asked.

Cat pulled off the protective layer, showing a brand new rider's jacket. It was nearly pure black with the exception of thin, orange lines around the upper arms that looked to be the outlines of flames. The jacket matched her bike, perfectly.

"Whoa! That's even better than your first one!" Sam's face lit up as he took hold of one of the sleeves, looking over the jacket.

"Nice, huh? They didn't have this design when I first bought the bike. It's totally new, and absolutely perfect!" Cat flung it around her and tried it on, zipping it up, "What do you think?"

"It looks great!" A different voice had the three turn towards the window, "It's just a shame the only place that you're going to wear it to is the Dam!" Bumblebee crossed his hologram arms.

Cat looked to Sam and glared.

The boy shrugged and said, "He was going to figure it out at some point."

"Yeah, but I was kind of hoping it would be when I was a few miles away from the house..." Cat replied just before she felt the scruff of the jacket being grasped tightly.

"You're not going anywhere, " Bee frowned.

"As much as I would love to sit here and argue with you, Bee, I have things that need to get done..." Cat pulled away and unzipped her jacket, putting it back on it's hanger.

Bumblebee turned to the two teens and asked, "Do you mind if I have a moment to speak with Cat?"

"Sure, buddy," Sam nodded slowly and Mikaela shook her head as they both exited the guest room.

"Well? What?" Cat sighed and crossed her arms.

"I've just gotten word from Optimus. He sent Jazz and Bluestreak to investigate into the human that Barricade had attacked," he began.

Cat had turned to hang the jacket up in her closet when she stopped suddenly, "And?"

"There was nothing found about him that makes any sense as to why Barricade suddenly attacked him," Bumblebee explained, "Apparently he's just a human who lives in an apartment in Boulder City."

Cat gave a silent sigh of relief and continued hanging the jacket before she heard, "The hospital that had admitted him also reported that he was covered by a biker's jacket. They remember because it was strange that he wasn't riding a motorcycle, but the paramedics recall seeing someone on one flee the scene."

Cat turned and looked to the hologram and asked, "... I'm in trouble again, aren't I?"

"No. We've agreed that you showing an act of kindness to a human was a gesture that we'd rather see more often from you," he gave a chuckle.

Cat pursed her lips, "Funny..."

"Optimus also wanted to know if you wanted us to retrieve it for you from the human," he mentioned.

"... I've got a new one now, so don't worry about it," Cat muttered as she picked up some of the clothes on the floor to get them ready to be shipped back.

"You're still not leaving Tranquility just yet," Bumblebee mentioned.

"You know I'd expect this kind of reaction from the others, but I thought that you would be a little more understanding of the idea that we all need a little space from time to time!" Cat grouched.

Bumblebee looked a little remorseful for a moment and replied, "I understand that you want to be alone with your thoughts from time to time. But when we have a sighting of a Decepticon, and it appears as if you were intended target-"

"You don't know that! Barricade _ran_ from me! I think I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Cat seethed.

"Whether or not that's true, we have to stay on high alert. It's just too dangerous to-"

Cat threw a bundle of clothes into a pile and turned to him, "Just drop it, okay? I'm an adult, and I'll do as I please! If I have a problem, I'll activate the little button that Ratchet installed in my arm! So get off of my back!"

"Fine, you're an adult and can do as you please," Bumblebee agreed.

Cat raised an eyebrow at the blond. Her suspicion of what he was thinking was outweighing the thoughts of what he had just said, "Really?" she asked.

"Absolutely... And I'll accompany you," he smirked.

Cat rolled her eyes, "No you won't."

"Exactly why won't you at least tell us what it is that you're planning to do?" Bee asked.

"It's just personal, all right?" Cat replied.

Bumblebee shook his head, "I wouldn't accept an answer like that from Sam or Mikaela, and Optimus wouldn't accept an answer like that from me."

Cat sat down on the bed and sighed, "If I tell you... Then you can't tell anyone else or even follow me... All right?"

----

Chapter Teaser!

The early morning hours on New Years Day made it difficult to traverse some of the back roads. The paths were long and steep. There was a thick haze of fog that surrounded the park. The ground was wet with the morning dew and moisture was beginning to form on the outside of the rider's plastic cover on the front of their helmet. The rider wiped it clean with their gloves and continued down the long pathway. Trees surrounded the rocky roads and swayed with the cold winds. The motorcycle gently navigated the park roads with a low hum of it's quiet engine. That was, until it stopped just in front of a set of tall, metal gates. The rider noticed that there was also a single car parked off to the side of the gates in the grassy knolls. One of the gate doors were just slightly opened to about a foot of squeezing room. The rider parked the motorcycle and shut off the engine, getting off of the bike and setting it on it's stand carefully. There was a large, black plastic bag that had been strapped down to the secondary seat of the bike. The rider unstrapped the bag and took to the gates, squeezing through and into the park where the rider stopped and looked around.

A graveyard. To the left and to the right of the rider there were gravestones. Some were fairly new, others were old and leaning because the ground had softened and slumped beneath them. There were gravestones that had chipped and there were some that had the lettering worn away, barely able to be read. The rider began their trek through a long, winding pathway, until after about ten minutes of walking, they finally came to a newer gravestone.

The rider removed the helmet, revealing the long, brunette hair of Cat. Her eyes softened with sadness and remorse as she kneeled in front of the grave. The area was quiet, the early morning light was darkly disbursted through the thick haze around her. She set her helmet down to the side of her and sighed as she stared at the gravestone. She had felt good and alone at first, until she heard footsteps from behind her and quickly turned to see a man standing just a few feet away, frowning as he looked down to her.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.


	21. Happy New Years?

Hey all! Here's the next chapter! Thank you all for being so patient, I know I've taken some time getting into what Soul Recon really is about, but I've needed to build up towards the bang ending! Everything will come into light soon enough, I promise!

FORD B: Yeah, well, you should know me and cliffhangers, I looooooove to keep everyone wondering! teehee!

GrimlockX4: Thank you for the support and keeping up with my story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, or any other copyrighted item mentioned in this story. However, I DO own Cat and Rotten... And Five..... Yeah okay, so anyone you don't normally associate with Transformers in this fic, I own.

Enjoy!

--------

The early morning hours on New Years Day made it difficult to traverse some of the back roads. The paths were long and steep. There was a thick haze of fog that surrounded the park. The ground was wet with the morning dew and moisture was beginning to form on the outside of the rider's plastic cover on the front of their helmet. The rider wiped it clean with their gloves and continued down the long pathway. Trees surrounded the rocky roads and swayed with the cold winds. The motorcycle gently navigated the park roads with a low hum of it's quiet engine. That was, until it stopped just in front of a set of tall, metal gates. The rider noticed that there was also a single car parked off to the side of the gates in the grassy knolls. One of the gate doors were just slightly opened to about a foot of squeezing room. The rider parked the motorcycle and shut off the engine, getting off of the bike and setting it on it's stand carefully. There was a large, black plastic bag that had been strapped down to the secondary seat of the bike. The rider unstrapped the bag and took to the gates, squeezing through and into the park where the rider stopped and looked around.

A graveyard. To the left and to the right of the rider there were gravestones. Some were fairly new, others were old and leaning because the ground had softened and slumped beneath them. There were gravestones that had chipped and there were some that had the lettering worn away, barely able to be read. The rider began their trek through a long, winding pathway, until after about ten minutes of walking, they finally came to a newer gravestone.

The rider removed the helmet, revealing the long, brunette hair of Cat. Her eyes softened with sadness and remorse as she kneeled in front of the grave. The area was quiet, the early morning light was darkly disbursted through the thick haze around her. She set her helmet down to the side of her and sighed as she stared at the gravestone. She had felt good and alone at first, until she heard footsteps from behind her and quickly turned to see a man standing just a few feet away, frowning as he looked down to her.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.

--

It was early in the morning back in Tranquility as well, with the exception that the sun was actually shining, even though the morning was a bit chilly. Ron had just pulled his porsche out of the garage so that he could get to some of the tools in the back. When he closed the door (gently of course) he looked over to into the yard to see the gleaming Camaro sitting in the early morning rays of sunlight. Usually, he would just go on with his normal morning routine without bothering the Autobot, but he noticed that Bumblebee's hologram was sitting on the hood, elbows propped on his knees and his head slumped his in hands. Ron believed this to be a bit odd of the alien's normal behavior, so he decided to see what was on his mind... er, computer... oh whatever. He decided to check it out.

Ron walked over to the hologram and asked, "Aren't you normally alseep about this time? You know, Sam was up well past midnight last night for New Years, so he's probably going to sleep in a few hours longer today."

The hologram's eyes strayed slightly over in Ron's direction and replied, "Yes, Sam told me yesterday that he would probably be sleeping in late today. Cat has already left, if you were looking for her."

"Oh that's right," Ron remembered, "she went somewhere today. I'm surprised she didn't ask you and the kids to go with her. You guys do almost everything together when she's here."

"She wanted to do this alone. She told me what it was that she was planning on doing, and I agreed that she could go, however," Bumblebee trailed off.

"However?" Ron asked.

"I am... finding myself overly concerned. I have been second guessing myself as to whether or not I should have gone with her," he replied.

"Oh," Ron nodded, "I wouldn't worry about that one. She's pretty tough. Cat and Mikaela are the two toughest girls I think I've ever met!"

"Yes, they are two very unique individuals. But after the recent Decepticon sighting, I suppose I've realized just how important they are. Especially Cat."

Ron laughed, "Yeah, she's special. I mean, to think, that a little girl like that was abused and neglected for so long and to come out the way she has," he shook his head, "Yeah, she's a true fighter. I think all of us, Sam especially, feels lucky to have met her. Well, her and all of you, of course. But I think he sees her as the older sibling he never had. Judy and I both think that she's a great kid."

Bumblebee only nodded slightly in reply.

Ron cleared his throat and approached the hologram, "You know," he sat down on the hood of the Camaro next to the young, blond human imposter, "When I was young, and had known Judy only for a short time, I always found myself feeling thrown off whenever she had to go and take care of something."

The young-looking hologram turned and looked to Ron, "Oh?"

"Oh yeah! When we were in college, she'd take trips back and forth to her parents house all the time. Even in bad weather, she'd drive over four-hundred miles every other weekend to visit them. I'd always worry that something would happen, but she always came back to me," he smiled, his eyes twinkling reminiscing about the past. Bumblebee thought quietly as he listened.

Ron turned and patted the mech's hologram on the back, "She'll come back. Don't worry yourself so much!" he got up and walked away, back into the garage to look for the tools that he was searching for just moments ago.

-Perhaps he's right... I should just trust that Cat will come back...-

--

"I said, what are you doing?!" the man asked again.

Cat turned her back to the stranger, "None of your business," she replied softly.

"You're at the wrong grave," he grouched.

"Who says I am?" Cat asked.

"Me! That's who!" he spat.

"Well as far as I'm concerned, you're no one... So leave me alone..." Cat gave a low growl in return.

"No one, huh?" the man walked to within about a foot of Cat, "Well this no one happens to be related to the one in that grave!"

Cat's eyes widened as she stood up and faced the man, backing away from him a few steps, "Re... Related how?"

The man's azure eyes were red with a sleepless hangover, and his medium length black hair was in a tangled mess. He took the last few gulps from a whiskey bottle and threw it down on the grave, breaking it into hundreds of small shards of glass. He was thin and looked malnourished. He nearly fell to the ground as he sat on the opposite side from the grave as Cat. He wiped the remaining amount of alcohol from his chin that had dribbled from the bottle.

"We were close, as kids... Our parents weren't always around for us, but we looked out for each other... Then, later on, when she graduated from high school she moved on and hardly ever spoke to me," he explained, "That was until I was called, a few months ago, and told that I needed to make funeral arrangements... I can't even get anyone to tell me how she died..."

Cat couldn't believe what she was hearing... Was any of this real?

"She..." Cat started, the man looking to her as she knelt down on the other side of the grave from him, "She died protecting someone..."

The man scoffed, "Like she'd ever know anything about protecting someone!"

"What would you know?!" Cat spat back, "You weren't there!"

"I know from experience!" the man yelled, "Even after I got my life together and started a family of my own, she'd never reply to the invitations to come and visit! She'd never even send birthday cards to my son, or my daughters! After they were born, it was like she acted like she never had a family anymore! And for just a little over twenty years, she never even called on the holidays... What kind of person does that?!"

Cat was taken off guard.

"Lil..." she started, "I never knew that she had a family..."

"So who the hell are you, anyway? And why are you mourning over my sister's grave?" he asked, sounding as though he were losing his voice.

"I'm... I'm the one that she died to protect..." Cat admitted.

The man's eyes stopped straying around in a drunken fashion and glared, intently at Cat.

"What?" his voice was low and baritone.

"You wanted to know," she replied in a matter-of-factly, "She died protecting me from being killed in an... accident..." Cat didn't want to divulge the details, of course. She'd promised the Autobots that she'd never tell their secret unless she was in dire need to. Besides, the government worked so hard to cover up everything that happened in Mission City. And, although he was related to her surrogate mother, she wasn't about to out the details to just anyone.

"What kind of accident?" he asked.

Cat sighed. Yeah, she figured he'd ask that.

"She worked in a laboratory at the Hoover Dam. Which is why she couldn't tell you what she was doing. She was under government observation, and wasn't allowed to make contact with anyone. Of course you should know that it was because they refused to let anyone know what they were doing. A few months ago, there was a terrible... accident... at the Dam, and to protect me from the debris, she put her body over mine..." Cat looked up to the man with a look of total remorse, "She did a great thing. She died an honorable death. Not many people who work for the government can say that. Believe me, I know from experience..."

There was a moment of pure silence.

"So what about you?" he asked suddenly.

Cat gave the man a confused expression, "What do you mean?"

"What made you worth my sister deciding to take her own life to save yours?" he asked.

Cat couldn't exactly say that she was taken back by this question. She'd wondered the same thing. At the time that Lillian had sacrificed herself to save Cat, the woman was under the impression that the girl was going to die within hours anyway. That, and Cat's body was built to withstand taking those kinds of hits, and Lil's wasn't. The woman had made the split second decision to take the highest probability that she would be ending her life in order to protect someone who was going to die anyway... To this day, she didn't understand why...

"Did, Lil ever mention... That she had a child of her own?" Cat asked, already sure that she knew the answer.

The man looked shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. His eyes were wide, and his mouth agape. Cat was pretty sure that this was the answer she was expecting.

"No... She never said anything about having a child..." he replied.

"Well... She had a daughter..." Cat looked away. She didn't want the secret to be out, but she knew that Lil had left too many answers in the dark for her family, and it was time to shed some light for them.

"Are you..." he started, Cat looked up to him with a cringe on her face, "Are you sure?"

Cat breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, "Yes, I'm fairly certain..."

"You don't happen to know where this child is, do you?" he asked, a hopeful look on his face.

"You know," Cat started, she had butterflies in her stomach. She didn't want to tell him that it was her. She didn't want to tell him that he had a niece. She didn't want to tell him that she was, possibly, his family that he had never met, "I don't know... I haven't seen her in years..."

The mans' hopeful look turned sour as he lowered his head.

"I suppose I should have expected that..." his voice was trembling.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Cat just couldn't do it... She couldn't tell this pathetic soul that he still had family to connect to... Her instincts told her to tell him the truth, but her mind told her that there was too much at risk. She wasn't sure which to follow, but she knew that she was too scared to admit the truth. She wasn't surprised that he didn't recognize her has having the same color right eye. Her left eye stood out too much to show any kind of likeness to Lil, and the fact of the matter was, that the man was suffering from a rather horrible hangover which probably made his powers of deduction non existent.

Cat reached around to the spot where she had been kneeling before and grabbed the black bag that she had been carrying with her. She pulled the plastic, carefully, from around the item inside to reveal a handful of flowers. In front of the gravestone was a metal, circular looking thing that Cat reached down and turned, pulling up on the tab in the center. A bronze vase was pulled up, Cat placing it right side up back in the circular base and twisting in place so that it stayed standing. She placed the flowers in the vase, then grabbed her helmet and stood.

"I should probably be going... There are some people expecting me and I can't disappoint them..." she lowered a softened glance to the man, who looked even more lost than before, "Can you, uh... Can you get home?"

"I was drunk hours ago... I'll be fine..." he growled.

Cat nodded and turned away, leaving the man to his thoughts.

--

Several minutes had gone by since the strange girl with a yellow eye had left him there alone to his sister's grave. Adam Andrews looked to the stone once more, as he had done all night.

**Lillian Abbigail Andrews**

**1966-2007**

The flowers that the girl had place in front of her grave were quite beautiful. Red and White roses. They looked fresh enough to last for days in front of the stone. He turned his head to look away, but before he did, something caught his eye. He leaned forward and reached towards the flowers, moving them out of the way.

A card.

Why in the world would anyone put a card in flowers in front of a grave? No one would read it, of course! He grabbed the card and yanked it from the plastic holder. Getting his eyes to refocus from the haze of his hangover was a bit difficult, but the writing on the card eventually came into clear view.

**_"I wish you were here to guide me through some of the most confusing parts of my new life... Even though we've never really gotten to know one another, I feel like I could have trusted you to show what's yet in store for me... Happy New Years... Mom..."_**

"Mom?" Adam's eyes widened. His head whirled around on his shoulders in the direction that the girl had gone... It couldn't have been...

Adam rose to his wobbly feet and began to run as fast as he could. His legs were numb from sitting the way he had been for so long, but he ignored the pins and needles rolling up the backs of his legs and continued for the gate of the cemetery. It took him some time before he finally found the gate, but he slipped out, looking around in a hurry.

"HEY!" he yelled, trying to see if he could attract the attention of the girl if she were still close by.

He looked to the ground and saw fresh tracks of a two-wheeled vehicle...

She was gone...

--

"Hey you!" Cat's head swung around after pulling off her helmet, having heard the voice of Mikaela. The two teens were in the backyard sitting in the back porch's sun room, waving to Cat.

She smiled and waved back, dismounting from her bike and setting her helmet in the lock under the secondary seat. She pulled off her new rider's jacket and laid it over the handlebars of the bike and walked over to the sun porch, sitting down on a chair across from her friends.

"So how'd everything go?" Mikaela asked.

Cat sighed and let her head lay back so that she was staring up at the ceiling, "Nothing ever goes the way I expect it to..."

The smiles on the kids' faces disappeared, "What happened?" Sam asked.

Cat closed her eyes, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say what I've done, now. I went up to Meadow Vista, California to visit someone..."

"Visit who? You hate people!" Mikaela was confused.

"Well I wasn't expecting anyone to talk back... I went to visit Lil's grave," she finally admitted.

Sam and Mikaela were quiet as church mice.

Cat smirked, "Yes, the same Lil who you met before Mission City. The one who died at the Dam."

"The one that wouldn't tell us where the Allspark was, even after you told her to?" Sam asked.

Cat's smirk faded, "Yeah, that's the one..."

"The one who let you live like a lab rat?" Mikaela spat.

Cat groaned and rolled her head to the side, "That's the one..."

"The one who-" Sam was about to go on when Cat stopped him.

"The one who helped me escape from the Dam? The one who gave me a chance to start over?! The one gave her life to save mine?! That one?!" She seethed as she stood back up, "You think there's a reason why I didn't tell you I was going to visit "that one" in the first place?!" she stormed out of the sun room and jumped back onto her bike, throwing on her jacket but ignoring the helmet and burning rubber out of the driveway.

Ron and Judy had heard the disturbance and ran to the back door.

"What's going on?" Judy asked.

"I think... I think we just really upset Cat..." Sam replied.

Everyone was focused on the garage when the sound of the door opened, and the sight of the bright yellow Camaro strolled out of the garage and out of the driveway, obviously out to follow Cat.

Mikaela locked arms with Sam and leaned into him, "Bee will help calm her down..."

--

Cat had decided to go where there were less people, but involved a short drive, since she had been driving all day, and she was fairly worn out. She stopped the bike in the gravel portions of the lookout and dismounted it quickly, stomping off towards the lone tree that sat at the edge of the tall cliff. She, roughly, sat herself down in front of the tree, watching the sun as it made it's way down to set. She leaned her head back against the tree, closing her eyes halfway, trying not to think about how upset she was. It was quiet for only a moment, when Cat suddenly heard the purring motor of a familiar Autobot pull up. She rolled her eyes.

"What?" Cat asked.

The sounds of a transformation, and a few "booming" footsteps later, The bipedal form of Bumblebee sat down beside Cat, next to the tree.

"So you decided to tell Sam and Mikaela?" he asked, looking out over the cliff as well.

"I thought it'd be a good idea... Guess that was a bad assumption, huh?" she asked.

"You should give them a better chance to understand. The only things they've seen of Lillian was her stern nature. They weren't there when she gave her life for you, so they're somewhat reluctant to see her in a different light," Bumblebee tried to reason.

"You'd think that they'd be okay with her since she she saved me..." Cat muttered.

"I'm sure there's no question about that. However, their personal experience with her was... Less than perfect," he replied.

Cat sighed, "I know..."

Bumblebee looked down to the young woman. He could tell that she wasn't really angry, so much as she was hurt.

"Did you find her?" he asked.

Cat looked to the ground, "Yeah... I found her..."

"I know that it must have been hard for you to-"

"I found more, Bee," Cat interrupted.

"More? More of what?" The Autobot cocked his head in confusion.

"More than I bargained for... She has family," Cat admitted.

"There are more buried with her?" he asked.

"No... When I got there, my time alone was cut short by someone who was there to visit her as well..." Cat looked up to her friend, "Her brother..."

"I had no idea that she had any living relatives," Bumblebee remarked.

"Yeah... Neither did I... Apparently they contacted him to tell him that he was to take care of the burial plans. And, of course, the government refused to tell him how she died, so I told him..." Cat explained.

Bumblebee looked to Cat, a bewildered expression in his optics, "You didn't-"

"I didn't tell him about you guys, no... I told him that she died in an accident," Cat continued, "And that she died an honerable death."

"That was very noble of you, Cat, "Bumblebee realized, "You could have dismissed him and given him the same grief that you normally give to random humans, but you didn't."

"Don't remind me," Cat smirked.

Another hit of realization, "Cat," the girl looked up to him, "This means you have family! Living blood relatives!"

Cat shook her head, "No, Bee. My genes were cloned from a different bloodline. I'm not even, really, Lil's kid," she looked back towards the sunset, the light hitting her eyes, lightening the colors of them, "I don't even know where my bloodline is from..."

"Or what family I really belong to..." She and Bumblebee looked out over the cliff, both quiet in thought.

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat was lying down, watching the sunset with her arms proping her head up. It was late in January on one of the coldest nights that Nevada had weathered in a while. The wind was chilly by the side of Lake Meade, and it was getting late. Cat sat up and yawned.

"Better get back to the Dam before I get a call..." she walked over to her bike and unlocked the secondary seat, taking the helmet from it's hook and setting it down on the main seat while she locked the secondary back into place. That's when she heard it.

"HELP!" A child's voice could be heard. There were splashing sounds, as well as the sounds of a child coughing up water, "HELP!" the small voice screamed in a high pitched urgency.

Cat turned towards the voice and ran as fast as she could. She quickly came upon a scene of several children, probably no older than eight or nine, standing by the lakeside. They looked like a small pack of scared rabbits as they huddled together and watched out towards the lake, where Cat looked out to see a little girl struggling to stay above the ice cold water. She was out at least twenty feet or so, where the water was too high for her to even keep her feet touching the bottom. Cat started to run towards the group as she saw the child's eyes widen, being taken under the water's surface. She stopped at the water's edge and threw off her rider's jacket and steel toed shoes as she jumped in, the water was painfully cold, but she swam out to where her left eye was telling her that the fading bio-signal was. Her time was already beginning to run out as she ducked under the water.

--

So what do you think?! You see that review button? Go for it!


	22. The Chills

Hey guys! I hope your Thanksgiving was great! I know I'm still full.... ugh... Anywho, here's the next update to the Soul Recon series! **Don't forget** to check back to my profile now and then, I update that in between updating stories, and to check the original Project Seven story now and then for a look at the overhaul that I'm doing to it. I finished the third chapter and I'm working on the fourth. I've started adding "REVISED" to the top of the chapters but I didn't add that onto the first and second, so that's how you know that I've finished with the chappies. And if you haven't done so yet, make sure to check out the **Halloween special**. I've had quite a few hits on that so far, yay!

GrimlockX4 - Thank you very much!

AccessBlade - Sounds like an excellent story! :D

FORD B - And as always, here's the next addition!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat, Rotten and any other non copyrighted-by-a-giant-corp-that-could-sue-my-ass....yeah

---

Cat was lying down, watching the sunset with her arms propping her head up. It was late in January on one of the coldest nights that Nevada had weathered in a while. The wind was chilly by the side of Lake Meade, and it was getting late. Cat sat up and yawned. She smiled as she remembered the talk she had with the guys after the whole Christmas incident.

--

Flashback

"I'm not going to pretend that I didn't disobey you, Optimus. But I'm also not going to pretend that I'm terribly satisfied that I'm being kept here," Cat griped as she crossed her arms. She was sitting across from Optimus, Wheeljack, Prowl and Ratchet.

"Exactly what do you propose, then?" Prowl asked.

Cat sighed and thought for a moment, looking down at the table top that she was sitting on. She thought quietly for a moment before returning her gaze to her four friends.

"I want this whole overprotective thing to stop. You keep telling me that I'm part of your group here. Well, why don't I get the same freedom as everyone else?" Cat asked.

"We've been over this, Cat. You may be under the watch of the group known as S-" Optimus started.

"So? Each and every one of you might be under the watch of the Decepticons. So what's the difference between me going out and facing some humans who are after me, and you guys going out alone and facing the chance of running into Barricade?" Cat asked, "Shouldn't all of you be under lock and key to keep you "safe"?"

The four Autobots thought quietly to themselves as well. Cat had made a very interesting point.

"So the next time Ironhide goes to visit Lennox, are you going to chastise him for being careless by being alone?" Cat glared at the four of them. It was obvious that she wasn't happy.

"I understand what you're telling us, Cat," Optimus grouched.

"Then stop treating me as if I'm an invalid. I'll continue my training with you guys, like we started out with. But I get to be alone when I want to be, and I get to do things without worrying about having the military coming to find me!" Cat continued her glare.

"So what if-" Ratchet began, but Cat already knew what he was going to ask and decided to cut him short.

"Look," she put her hand up in front of her to stop his question, "What happens, happens. If Sector eleven wants me, then they can come and try to catch me themselves. I don't need a security detail to protect me from them. I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm all grown up and stronger than I was. I can take care of a few humans, but if I come into contact with a Decepticon, you'll be the first ones to know," she pointed to her right arm's panel where the secret panel hid the alert button.

The four Autobots looked to each other and nodded their heads slowly. They all looked back to the woman.

"All right," Optimus agreed, "We'll do it your way."

"However," Ratchet spoke, "It will be the same as any other Autobot here. If I find that you're out of condition to be involved in anything besides being bedridden to my medical bay, you'll be confined from venturing outside."

Cat smirked, "Like that'll happen... Deal."

End Flashback

--

"Better get back to the Dam before I get a call..." she walked over to her bike and unlocked the secondary seat, taking the helmet from it's hook and setting it down on the main seat while she locked the secondary back into place. That's when she heard it.

"HELP!" A child's voice could be heard. There were splashing sounds, as well as the sounds of a child coughing up water, "HELP!" the small voice screamed in a high pitched urgency.

Cat turned towards the voice and ran as fast as she could. She quickly came upon a scene of several children, probably no older than eight or nine, standing by the lakeside. They looked like a small pack of scared rabbits as they huddled together and watched out towards the lake, where Cat looked out to see a little girl struggling to stay above the ice cold water. She was out at least thirty feet or so, where the water was too high for her to even keep her feet touching the bottom. Cat started to run towards the group as she saw the child's eyes widen, being taken under the water's surface. She stopped at the water's edge and threw off her rider's jacket and steel toed shoes as she jumped in. The water was painfully cold, but she swam out to where her left eye was telling her that the fading bio-signal was. Her time was already beginning to run out as she ducked under the water.

Even though her left eye could see where the signal was coming from, it malfunctioned in the freeze, causing Cat to only be pointed in the right direction. The water was murky and as Cat dove deeper, it became even colder. She could feel thin slips of ice brush against her face as she paddled down further. The breath that Cat was holding began to falter, and her lungs began to burn with the need for a deep inhale of air. She was about to turn back to the surface to catch another breath, when she saw a hand. She dove just a few extra feet down and saw the unconscious form of a blond headed girl. Cat reached under the girl and pulled her tightly against her chest as she kicked her way back up to the surface. She splashed above the water, taking a breath, making her lungs fill with air again.

She quickly swam to the edge of the lake and laid the child out. The other children gathered around the small girl while Cat coughed to catch her own breath. She looked over to see no movement coming from the child at all, the others looking to Cat for help.

"Aw geez..." Cat pushed the other children out of the way as she looked over the pale little girl.

The woman put her ear to the girl's chest. Her sensitive hearing could hear the swishes of water in the child's lungs. She sat back up and placed her hands over the little girl's belly and gave a hard shove.

The girl's eyes shot open as her head quickly went to the side, water being vomited up. Cat sighed in relief as the children cried and hugged each other, including the little girl. Cat stood up and shivered as a harsh, cold wind hit her; water dripping down her locks of blackened hair. She looked down to the children, who were smiling up at her, rambles of 'thank you's' made Cat scoff.

"Where's your parents?" Cat growled, sitting to put her shoes on.

The oldest boy stepped forward and pointed across the lake, "We're all on the camp grounds on the other side of the lake."

"Camping? In January?" Cat raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think mommy and daddy were expecting it to be this cold. They said it was supposed to be warmer than where we're from," the boy shrugged.

"Why aren't you over _there, _then?" she asked.

"We were riding our bikes around the lake. We told her to stay at camp because she was too small, but she rode her bike out and dropped her doll into the water. Next thing I know, we see her splashing around in the lake," he explained.

Cat looked to the little girl, who was also shivering. She stood up and grabbed her rider's jacket, putting it around the small child and picking her up into her arms.

"Mommy's gonna be mad..." the little girl's blue eyes welled up with tears.

Cat shook her head, "Not my problem, kid... Come on, I'll take you back..."

--

Cat was back on the road, but even her jacket was soaked, so the brazen winds were hitting Cat worse than when she rode without a jacket to Sam's house on Christmas Eve. Arriving to the Dam's garage, Cat could barely park the bike as she shivered violently. She didn't even bother locking the helmet to the bike, she just dropped it and walked quickly up the floors to her apartment. She grabbed her keys out of her pocket and dropped them.

"Dammit..." Cat mumbled as she bent over to grab the keys.

"Hello, Catherine," Cat jumped at Wheeljack's voice.

"Oh, h-hey J-Jack..." Cat replied with a greeting.

The scientist was merely walking by, but stopped, noticing that Cat was having a hard time getting the key into her apartment door.

"Something the matter with the lock on your door?" he asked.

"N-n-no... No problem..." her hands shook.

Wheeljack, then, seemed to noticed a small trail of water droplets from around Cat, as well as the fact that her pants and hair were soaked, "Catherine, do you realize that you're completely covered in liquids?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know... I was f-forced to go for a little s-swim while I was out," Cat was still trying to work the lock.

Wheeljack cocked his cranial unit at the girl, "The weather, right now, is not the best weather for a human to 'go for a swim' as you said. Humans who do that could end up with a serious virus of-"

The door finally opened, "I don't get sick, Jack," Cat muttered as she stepped into her apartment and shut the door.

Before Wheeljack stepped away, he heard a sneeze through the apartment door.

The Autobot scientist was about to knock on the garage door to see if everything was all right when he received an internal communications.

**-Wheeljack, please report to the meeting room. Optimus is calling an emergency meeting- **it was Prowl.

**-I'm on my way, Prowl-** The scientist nodded, completely forgetting about his little run-in with Cat, and heading towards the meeting room.

--

Cat closed the door behind her, but as she did, she felt a strange sensation in her nasal cavity. Her eyes began to water, somewhat, and her head shot forward with a sudden "explosion".

She sneezed.

"Oh great..." she threw off her jacket and straight into the bathroom, passing Rotten, who was dazed from just waking up from an upsidedown snooze on the couch.

Cat shut the bathroom door behind her and headed straight for the shower. She pulled the knob all the way over on the hot setting and practically threw herself into the shower, letting the shower head pour scorching hot water on her covered body. She was still wearing clothing as she settled into a sitting position on the shower room floor. She pulled her legs up to her chest and put locked her arms around her legs.

"I can't get sick... I can't get sick... I _can't_ get sick..." Cat repeated to herself.

Rotten sat outside the door of the bathroom, whimpering and scratching lightly to get Cat's attention, but to no avail.

--

"Is everyone here?" Optimus asked.

"Yes sir. Every Autobot in the facility is present," Prowl replied.

"Good. My friends, I'm afraid that we have a problem. Prowl has intercepted an interstellar transmission from a group of Decepticons," the leader explained, "Prowl, will you please playback the recording?"

The security mech nodded and stepped up to the table in which everyone had been seated at, "I'm afraid that much of the recording is still scrambled, but I was able to decode the most important portions of the message."

**-Starscream - this is -- Come in Star--**

**-This is Starscream, go ahead-**

**-This is -- Starscream... I and a few others have -- your transmission. Is what you - true? Has Megatron fallen?-**

**-I'm afraid so. I am still -- to gather Decepticons who wish to aid in - revenge-**

**- Is this ----- Autobots?-**

**- There are humans who are going to pay fo- they've -- to the Allspark. As well as Mega--**

**-Wha- frag is a -uman?-**

**- Pitiful excuses for existing creatures. The- as low as- turbo rat!-**

**-So we -et to destroy an entire planet along -- the Autobots?-**

**-Yes --... We take out every single -ne of them...-**

The message stopped and Prowl explained, "That's as much of the message as I could retrieve."

"How long until any Decepticons are within Earth's atmosphere?" Optimus asked.

"As of now, I haven't been able to completely analyze all of the calculations. However, I believe we're looking in terms of several months before any Decepticon is even within several light years of this galaxy," Prowl answered.

"I suppose that gives us some time to prepare..." Ironhide sighed.

"I doubt that we'll ever really be prepared for an attack on Earth, Ironhide, "Optimus replied, "There are humans on every mass of land, and there are only ten of us. We're going to need to coordinate with with American government to ensure that they understand the situation. But even then, they're not exactly going to have the means to protect every human in this country."

"Couldn't we, at least, evacuate the local cities to the Dam?" Bluestreak asked.

"There isn't enough room. Besides, I would think that the Decepticons would want to strike here, and Tranquility first. Bringing humans here would probably be the cause of their deaths," Ratchet replied.

"Are there any signs of any other Autobots that may have received Optimus' transmission?" Wheeljack asked.

"No... I haven't even picked up a single trace of any other Autobot. I'm afraid the closest Cybertronian is a Decepticon," Prowl replied.

There was a slight pause in the meeting.

"Wait," Sideswipe spoke up, "Doesn't Cat have some sort of ability to perform that Alchemy that you guys have talked about? She could build us more weapons and artillary!"

"Cat has not been able to use Alchemy since her fusion with five, Sideswipe," Ratchet replied, "It was a miracle that she could even walk afterwards."

"Besides," Jazz added, "I don't think Cat really has any interest to go back to learning any o' that stuff. She's pretty much decided to steer clear o' anything that had to do with her upbringing."

"But if we tell her that it's to protect everyone against the Decepticons, wouldn't she-" Sunstreaker began.

"No one is going to force her into doing anything," Optimus interrupted, "If Cat had carried on the abilities that her sister had, then we would be having a different conversation. But we've evaluated her battling abilities to be less than what we had hoped they would be. If the Decepticons attack, we'll need to put Cat under the protection of Bumblebee, along with Mikaela and the Witwicky family."

Ironhide smirked, "Good luck with that."

"Good luck with what?" Wheeljack asked.

"That kid's gonna fight about it. She's gonna insist on fighting with us," the gray and black mech laughed.

"Well we're just going to need to try and interest her otherwise," Optimus sighed, "That's all for now, men. Thank you for attending the meeting."

As everyone left the meeting room, Wheeljack caught up with the CMO.

"Ratchet, I wonder if I might have a word with you?" the scientist asked.

"Of course, Jack. What can I do for you?" Ratchet was grouchy, but Wheeljack felt as if it was purely because of the news that had just been announced.

"I ran into Catherine on her way in from her trip outside just before the meeting, and she told me something that didn't seem to coinside with other humans," he explained as they walked through the med bay and into Ratchet's office.

The medic replied simply, "Well, Cat isn't a normal human, persay. Her body works on a different level than most."

"Ah, I see... Then perhaps what she said makes more sense than I had realized," Jack thought aloud.

"What, exactly, did she say?" Ratchet asked.

"Well, when I saw her, she was covered in water. What I analyzed to be nothing more than retension pond, or lake water. She said that she was "forced to take a swim" while she was out, and it looked as though she had ridden her motorcycle back in such a condition," this seemed to gain Ratchet's full attention, "When I advised her that humans could contract a virus doing such things, she informed me that she cannot become ill."

A frown appeard on the medic's face, "How did she appear to you, besides being soaked?"

"She was having difficulty keeping a grasp on her keys due to a rather bad shake in her hands. I assumed that she-" Wheeljack was cut off by the medic suddenly storming out of the med bay, "Ratchet?"

"Come with me, Jack!" Ratchet yelled behind him.

**-Optimus, this is Ratchet-**

**-I'm here, Ratchet. What can I do for you?-**

**-We have a new problem-**

**-(grumble) Can it wait? I'm just about to get in touch with our contacts with the American government-**

**-No, it can't wait. I need you to meet me at Cat's apartment as quickly as possible-**

**-...What's the matter, Ratchet?-**

**-I'll explain when I can get a better look at the situation-**

**-I'll be there in just a moment-**

"Is it true what she said, Ratchet? Can Catherine really not become ill?" Wheeljack asked as he caught up with the medic.

"We don't know. When Cat was created, she was supposed to have, what the humans call, an evolving immune system. But before Mission City she obtained a virus and the effects were irreversable. Her sister Five, however, had a better immune system and was unaffected by any viruses. I haven't a clue as to whether or not Cat's immune system can handle even the most harmless viruses," Ratchet explained, "There's just no way to know."

As they rounded the corner on Cat's floor, the two noticed that Optimus was already standing in front of the apartment, his arms crossed in waiting.

"What's this about, Ratchet?" the leader asked.

"Wheeljack has just informed me that Cat was swimming outside, possibly in a lake or pond, and was acting out of character for her. The temperatures outdoors are far below the recommended levels for a human to be swimming, so I needed you to help me confirm that she may be in danger of an illness," Ratchet informed his superior.

Optimus nodded, "All right. Let's look into this then."

Wheeljack turned and knocked on the garage door to Cat's apartment, and they all waited.

--

"It's nothing!" Cat yelled, sitting down on the couch, facing her friends as she dripped with the warm water from the shower. She was wearing her evening robe and had a towel hanging from around her neck.

"If it's nothing, then why don't you just tell us what happened?" Optimus asked.

Cat sighed, "I just fell in the water," girl growled.

Optimus looked to the medical officer and asked, "Well, Ratchet? What do your sensors tell you?"

"She looks all right, for now. Though she has some minor burns on her forearm," Ratchet raised an eye ridge.

"Yeah... I was upset and I turned the knob on the shower too hot and when I went to feel the water I was burned a little. They'll heal in a few hours anyway, so I didn't bother coming to you," she replied.

"...You turned on the hot water in fear of contracting a virus, didn't you?" Ratchet asked.

"Hey," Cat looked to them, a softened look on her face, "You're not the only ones to remember what happened that day... I worry, sometimes, about whether or not it could happen to me again..."

The medical officer vented a sigh and said, "I'm impressed that you seemed to have taken care of the burns by applying an ointment, so I won't drag you to the medical bay... All right. You don't show any signs of illness. If anything happens be sure to-" Ratchet started.

"Let you know. Got it," Cat rolled her eyes.

The three Autobots left the apartment, leaving Cat to pull a blanket over herself on the couch and turn the television on. She wrapped herself in the comfort of the thick fleece, Rotten jumping up to snuggle with her as he continued a soft whimper. Cat smiled and reached around the dog, scratching his back.

"Don't let them scare you, boy... By tomorrow, this whole thing will blow over," it wasn't so much that she was trying to comfort her friend, so much as it was that she was trying to comfort herself, "I got over it in one night on Christmas, so this should be a breeze."

She sneezed.

"Shit..."

---

"Do we have her on a schedule for tomorrow?" Ratchet asked.

"I believe she is scheduled for perimeter checks with Jazz in the morning," Optimus replied.

"Good. I'll inform him of the situation," the medic decided.

"Let's hope that there is no situation," Optimus sighed.

"I'm a medic, Optimus. I don't work off of hope, I work off of experience," Ratchet said as he turned a different direction and headed towards the med bay.

--

It was already early in the morning. The air around the Dam was warmer than it had been recently, which was perfect weather for perimeter checks.

Jazz had gotten up from recharge and was in the lounge, waiting to meet with Cat as they normally did. Checking the time, it looked as though it was well past the time that she should have been there. However, it wasn't the first time that Cat would have ever been late, so he gave her the benefit of the doubt and continued to wait.

"Hey Jazz," Bluestreak walked in, "Aren't you late for perimeter check? Prowl's not going to be happy if he knows you haven't left yet."

"Mornin' Blue. Just waitin' for Cat to get here. She can be late every now and then, so I thought I'd give 'er a few minutes to catch up," Jazz replied.

"How late is she?" Blue asked.

"Not long. This is usually about the time she gets here still half asleep," the lieutenant smirked, "She doesn't always wake up to her alarm clock," It was a well known fact that even a sonic boom would have trouble waking Cat from a deep slumber.

Just as Jazz spoke, the familiar form of Rotten jetted through the doors of the lounge, skidding to a stop just in front of the two mechs.

"How'd you get out, boy?" Bluestreak wondered.

Jazz bent down to the panicked Rottweiler and ran a clawed hand down the animal's back as Rotten looked up to the mech, whimpering and crying loudly.

"Somethin' ain't right. How'd he get out?" Jazz thought aloud, "He's never escaped from Cat's apartment before..."

Rotten continued to cry as if he were being beaten, causing even more concern for the two.

Bluestreak bent down to the dog as well, "I usually take care of him when Cat's not here, and I've _never_ heard him do this before."

Rotten, then, took off towards the doors again, looking back towards the two Autobots with an expectant look.

"C'mon Blue! I think he's tryin' to tell us somethin'!" Jazz and Bluestreak took off, following Rotten through the hallways to Cat's apartment, where the garage door was open.

The two continued to follow Rotten into the apartment, looking around for signs of Cat. Rotten headed back towards the rear of the apartment, disappearing out of sight.

"You don't think she left, and forgot to close the door do you?" Bluestreak asked.

"No way. Cat doesn't forget to lock her place up, especially just leavin' a door open with Rotten around," Jazz shook his head, continuing to search around the living and kitchen area of the apartment.

"Cat?" Jazz yelled, "You here?"

After confirming that she wasn't in the front of the apartment, Jazz and Bluestreak's hologram's appeared to scour the back bedroom and bathroom areas. Bluestreak started with the closest rooms while Jazz headed straight back to Cat's main bedroom. The lieutenant knocked on the door, knowing how the girl felt about having people just bumrush into her private quarters. When he received no answer, he gently opened the door, peeking in and looking around.

"Cat?" Jazz asked.

A quiet moan directed the human version of Jazz to the other side of the king-sized bed. He noticed that the comforter and sheets seemed to have been ripped from the bed and were hanging on the other side. He made a quick dash over and saw all of the sheets balled up on the floor near a small heating register on the floor.

"Hey girl, what ya doin' on the floor?" he walked over the knelt down, pulling the sheets from the large mass. He peeled back the final sheet and was instantly shocked by what was in front of him.

Cat's face was pale. She was huddled on the floor in a fetal position, shivering violently. Her eyes were closed, and her skin felt freezing cold to the touch as he reached up to her face and felt her cheek.

"Blue! She's in here!" Jazz yelled as he gathered his human friend into his hologram arms and laid her out on the bed, "Cat, can ya hear me?" he asked gently tapping the sides of her face to get a response, "Come on, wake up!" There was no response besides the intense shivering. He picked up her left arm and examined it, seeing that the burns that Ratchet had reported to him about had turned from minor burns to infected burns.

Bluestreak walked into the doorway and stopped at the scene in front of him, "What happened?"

"We have to get 'er to Ratchet, now!" Jazz replied, wrapping the girl in the comforter and picking her back up, heading out of the room and down the hallway to the living area where his bipedal form was waiting.

--

Chapter Teaser!

"Ratchet, you guys need to take a look at this," Peterson directed them towards a small monitor which he had been watching the latest news on.

**"We're here at the side of a camp grounds in the cold weather of Nevada's Lake Meade, where yesterday some, unknown, woman gave a small child another chance at life," **A field reporter smiled a large, toothy grin as she explained.

The screen flipped over to a little girl, probably no older than six. She was smiling and holding her mother's hand. **"I fell in the water and, um... I almost drowned."**

**"Did you see the woman who saved you?" **

**"Yeah... She had brown hair and a yellow eye."**

**"Did.. Did you say a yellow eye?"**

**"Yeah, and one of her arms was metal,"** The girl held up one of her arms and touched it with the opposite hand, pointing to it.

The field reporter seemed confused, as if she didn't really believe what the child was saying **, "Did it look like a costume, maybe?"**

**"No," **the child shook her head.

The image flipped over to that of a young boy **, "She must have heard my sister screaming because she came out of nowhere and jumped into the water. When she came out my sister wasn't moving or breathing so she did something and brought her back... I thought I lost my little sister..."**

**"And you're sure you saw her?"**

**"Yeah... I wasn't sure if it was a dream or something but... She saved her, so that's all that matters."**

The image flipped to the parents of the two children.

**"My boy, here, said that she zipped my daughter up in a jacket and dropped them off just outside of the camp grounds. I wish I could have met her, I mean, she did something that she didn't have to do... We almost lost a valuable member of the family and we would have never known until it was too late..." **The father was nearly in tears.

**"What would you say if you could meet this strange woman?" **The anchor asked the mother.

**"I'd say.... Thank you so much..." **She said, her voice trembling and tears falling.

Peterson looked back to Optimus and Ratchet, "Something seem familiar about this to you?"

The two Autobots turned to the unconscious girl on the table. The nurses and medical assistants were throwing heated blankets over her, and propping her head up on a pillow. She was still shivering and was now even coughing.

"Ratchet..." Optimus started.

"I'll do everything within my powers to keep her from dying. You have my word..." The medic said firmly.


	23. Teddy Bear

Hey all! Now this will be my Christmas or "Holiday" special. It's one of those out-of-sequence event things that doesn't have an exact date. HA! Had you all fooled, didn't I? Thought I wasn't going to do this did ya? Bwahahaha! Evil Author Strikes again!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat.

------

"Thanks for helping me with this guys," Cat started, "I'd never get through even the beginning of it if you hadn't offered to help."

The three friends, along with the large and fully grown Rotten, made their way down a long staircase into a dark storage area.

"It's no problem, Cat. We'd love to help you! But I have to ask, what made you decide to relearn Alchemy?" Mikaela asked.

"After everything that's happened, I feel like I need to... I think that if I were to come into contact with Sector Eleven, or a Decepticon, I'll need all the ammunition that I can to protect everyone from them," Cat replied.

"You talk about it as if you're _planning_ on having a reunion with them," Sam spoke.

"I don't ever plan on anything, Sam. But I can't pretend that they don't exist, and that they're not trying to come after me... I've finally been able to get the others to agree that what happens, happens. So if I _do _travel alone and come into contact with them, I'll need everything I can," Cat explained.

"I still don't understand why you lost the abilities in the first place. I thought it was something learned, not something that was a part of you physically," Mikaela pondered.

"It's sort of hard to explain but... Just believe me when I say that after the fusion it messed with my ability to perform any part of it. I don't know why. It just happened that way," Cat replied. Cat didn't understand it either. The first time she had ever tried to perform Alchemy after the fusion between her and Five, she couldn't even draw a proper transmutation circle. It was as if the ability that she had practiced for so many years had just suddenly been forgotten. Even more strange about it was that Five had also used Alchemy when she was retrained as Eight. So after fusing two Alchemists together, why couldn't she perform even the smallest task? She needed answers. And the only way to find the answers was to look through the training books that she had used long ago.

They stopped as they finally entered the training room.

"Whoa..." Sam stared at the large area, "This is even bigger than the room you use to fight!"

The room was nearly five hundred feet in both length and width, and the walls were one hundred feet tall. The room was nearly entirely full with old supplies and things that Sector Eleven used to train the children that grew up in their facilities. It had all been shoved into the old training room when the Dam was redeveloped. Cat knew where it all had been taken to, but had decided never to set foot there again... until now that is...

"There's a lot of stuff here, Cat..." Sam looked around at all the boxes and crates that were packed one on top of the other.

"This is everything that was used to teach me and the others. Right down to the last book that I ever touched... This is everything..." Cat stared at everything as well. Every part of the last twenty years of her life was here.

Rotten licked Cat's hand, breaking her from her thoughts. She smiled down at the Rottweiler and scratched his ears lovingly, "It's all right, boy. Come on, guys. Let's get started."

They reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped, looking at the surrounding crates. They were stacked, three and four crates high. It was a lot of things to go through, but the two teens were more than willing to help Cat.

"Where do we start?" Mikaela asked.

"Hmm.." Cat walked down the nearest aisle of crates and drug her left hand against them as she passed by each one. She stopped at a crate, which was the only one that was just shoved in it's place behind everything else. She walked over to it and wiped her hand across the top, brushing the dust away, "This one will do for a start."

--

It had been about two hours of searching. They had gone through an entire aisle of crates already. So far they had only found boxes of paper with printed test results, more video tapes of training sessions, and piles of scrap metal. Why anyone would bother saving any of this was beyond Cat's understanding.

"Maybe we should take a break..." Mikaela sighed as she continued digging through a box of junk.

Cat had heard Mikaela's frustrated sigh and stopped digging herself, "Agreed... Let's grab some lunch, I'm starving..."

Mikaela looked around, feeling surrounded by all of the crates. She could see Cat atop a tall mountain of the wooden boxes, along with Rotten who laid, exhausted next to his owner.

"Where's Sam?" Mikaela asked.

"Got something!" Sam yelled, Cat, Rotten and Mikaela came running from their own searches.

"Where are you?" Mikaela yelled.

"Over here!" Sam yelled, waving a hand from amidst a mountain of crates.

Rotten jumped to where the boy was, Cat and Mikaela following.

"What'd you find?" Mikaela asked.

"Something besides paper and junk!" Sam smiled, handing a book to Cat, "It's in a different language, but there's a few of them in here."

"Do you recognize it?" Mikaela asked, scratching Rotten's ears as the dog panted happily.

"Yeah, it's one of the books we had to study. We were taught different languages just in case we were suppose to go on "away missions". This one's Arabic," Cat replied.

"You know Arabic?!" Sam asked.

"And Korean, and Russian, and Chinese, and French, as well as a few others. Not that I'll ever need them now," Cat threw the book behind her, "What else?"

Sam rifled through the bin of books once more, "They all look like foreign language books to me so far... Wait a second... Something looks different," he moved some of the hardbound covers and felt something soft and plush.

"What is it?" Cat asked, looking down in the crate as well.

Sam grabbed the item and pulled it out. He held up, what looked to be, an old teddy bear, "I thought they didn't give you guys any toys?" he asked.

Cat looked at it with a confused expression, "That's odd. They didn't! We weren't allowed to have anything that normal kids had."

"So you don't know who it belonged to?" Mikaela asked.

Cat shrugged, "It's not familiar to me but..."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"My left eye is acting weird," Cat stated, looking up towards one of the old hanging lights to readjust the lens.

"What's the matter with it?" the boy asked, lowering the teddy bear.

Cat looked down to the sewn animal, her eye suddenly beeping wildly as it did a scan on the object on it's own, "What the hell?!"

The woman reached forward and grabbed the bear, her body suddenly stiffening. She took a deep inhale of breath, falling backwards onto the ground, still holding the bear in a tightened grip.

"Cat?!" Sam and Mikaela yelled as they ran to her side, Rotten's nose sniffing over her face as if trying to make sense of what was happening.

Cat's hearing and vision began to fade. She could barely make out the faces of her two friends, or even hear their pleas for that matter.

"-AT!- Can yo- -ar us?!"

"Sam, go - Ratchet - Optimus!" was the last thing she heard before blacking out.

--

"What happened?" A gruff, male voice was heard first.

"I'm not sure, sir. She just blacked out during the training... Maybe we should stop for the day?" a younger man was heard.

"Nonsense! These children were bred to be the ultimate fighters! We can't settle for one of them just fainting on us! Get her up!" the gruff voice replied.

The girl could feel a hand reach under her upper back and prop her up, her head slumped backwards as she slowly awoke. Her eyes batted open and she suddenly felt overwhelmingly hot, sweat pouring down her face.

"You awake?" the soft male voice asked quietly.

"R..Ratchet?" The girl asked. Her eyes burst open as she realized that she had just asked that in a child's voice.

Three men in lab coats were standing around her, they all looked confused.

"What did she say?"

"She... She asked for a ratchet, sir," the young man that was holding the girl replied, a twistedly confused look turned toward his superior.

The gruff figure sighed and said, "All right... Maybe we _should _allow her to rest for the day... Get her back to her cell and have the medical officers take a look at her."

"Yes sir," the young man picked the child up in his arms and carried her out of the large training room that was all too familiar.

The girl began to twist and turn in the grip of the man, she felt his arms and hands grip her to keep from letting her go, but she fought that much harder until the man dropped her to the ground. She got up and ran down the hallway, looking behind her to see the man scrambling to run after her.

"Come back!" he yelled after her. The girl never understood why people would insist on yelling something like that when it was obvious that the person trying to make a getaway wasn't planning on just stopping and giving up.

She ran around the hallways corner and smirked. She knew this place like the back of her hand, now, and she wasn't about to not take advantage of it. She hung a quick right and crashed into a lab table. She muttered, lamenting herself and stumbled to gain a footing back on the floor... That table wasn't there before... She took to running again and dodged a few more lab tables as she made her way to the nearest air vent duct. She pulled the vent's cover right from it's bolts with her bare hands and jumped in, pulling the cover back over the hole behind her.

She sat behind the vent and quietly waited for a reaction amongst the technicians. For a moment she couldn't remember what had happened, which made her more and more confused.

**-Okay, so this morning I was scheduled for some tests, then I was supposed to go for a training excersize... I guess I blacked out during the training... But why?!- **The girl thought just before she heard some yelling in the next room.

"Have you seen a child come through here?!" the young man's voice was worried and shaken.

"David! I didn't know you had children!" One of the women giggled.

"I don't! It's one of the projects! She ran through this way and I'm trying to find her before Doctor Johnston finds out that I've lost her!" he explained in rush.

"Oh! Well, I didn't see her, maybe she ran in here!" the woman offered help as they walked into the room where the girl was sitting quietly in the air duct.

Her heart raced as she watched the two check around, looking behind desks and lab tables. She decided that if she were to be discovered, she would go on the offensive and kill them quick, so no one would hear them find her. She couldn't just take off down the duct, because it was assured that they would hear her, and alert the staff of the Dam that she was there. So she sat and waited.

"I don't see her here, David. Maybe she ran to the emergency exit and took the stairs!" The woman thought aloud.

"Dammit! I guess I have no choice... I have to alert Johnston about what's going on..." David sighed as he exited the room along with the woman, closing the door behind them.

"Alerting the staff means less time I have to escape! I have to go, and now!" the girl started her climb up through the duct system, feeling an odd sense of familiararity. She brushed this sense off and continued the long task of climbing up through the duct work.

Reaching the end, the girl looked through one of the vent covers and saw a desk and... Doors! Doors that led to the outside! If she could get to the outside it would probably be a quick escape to being far from here! That familiar sense came over her again... It was strange because she knew that she'd never been here before. But it was as if... as if she _had_ done this once before...

An alarm sounded an awful buzzing noise, red lights flashing over the desk.

"Oh great! I'm sitting here wasting time," she growled as she pushed against the vent and removed the cover, "When I could be out there, making a getaway!" She pushed the cover away and crawled from the duct work, passing the empty desk and towards the doors.

The girl's eyes were wide and sparkling with joy as she trekked towards the door. She was really making an escape! She was truly going to be free from this life of torture!

She made her way to the door and her small hands hit the push bar quickly and hard as she took a single step out and stopped. The sun was so bright! She had never seen it before. She held her arm out and felt the sudden increase of natural warmth against her skin. It felt so good... She stepped outside all the way and looked up towards the bright circle in the sky, closing her eyes and allowing that same warmth to be absorbed into her face. She brought her head down and opened her eyes, peering around the open land that was just before her.

Freedom.

The girl was about to run towards the open area when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her lower back. She stopped running, turning to see what had caused the pain, when she noticed a tranquilizer dart. She looked up and saw two security officers holding guns towards her, technicians and lab workers standing behind them. The girl fell to the ground, all she could think of was trying to get her arms and legs to move to her will, but nothing happened. She felt a wave of sleep wash over her like a tide.

She blacked out.

--

The beeping noises were horrendous... Horrendous and loud... And the nausea was even worse...

The girls' eyes slowly opened, her vision seemed only to be blurry haze. She still couldn't seem to move her ligaments as she fought against the heaviness that was over her whole body. She couldn't even lift her head. It took several minutes before she could even make out the shape of a cup of water that was sitting on a wheeled stand next to the bed she was laying in. Water... the girl realized that her mouth was incredibly dry, like sand paper. Her jaw moved slightly, the gritty feeling in her mouth begging to be appeased by a sip of water.

"You're awake!" a woman's voice would have startled the girl, if she weren't already as sedated as she could get, "You must be dying of thirst!"

The middle-aged woman sat at the girl's bedside and picked up the cup of water, inserting a straw so that it could be sipped without spilling it all over. She pulled the girl's head over to the side and allowed her lips to grip the straw. The small girl sipped the water slowly, feeling the ice cold water comforting her dry mouth. She let go of the straw, the older woman pulling the cup away and placing it on the stand.

"You had the whole Dam looking for you, you know," the woman frowned slightly.

"I don't care..." the girl whispered.

"I know... And I think you have every right to feel that way," the woman agreed, which started the child.

The woman, then, laughed at the child's expression, "You must think I'm crazy to agree with you. Because no one ever has, right?"

The girl nodded.

"When I'd heard that you made an escape, I think me, along with one other here, were the only ones praying that you'd make it out of here alive and escape for good. It's just not right that you're being kept here the way you are... You and the others... This whole project should have been shut down the minute someone thought of it..." she looked down to the girl with a softened glance, but her sorrowful look suddenly turned into a look of realization.

"Oh!" she yelled and got up quickly. She walked out of the room and a moment later returned, her arms behind her back. She reapproached the bedside and sat down, looking down to the child with a bright smile.

"Do you know what today is?" she asked.

The child looked around the room, her mind trying to think of what could be so important that the woman was looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. She shook her head 'no'.

"Today is a day where people give each other gifts. It's a holiday that most people in this country celebrate called Christmas. Have you heard of that?" she asked.

"In my studies, I've heard of it... It's when people celebrate the birth of Christ, right?" she asked, not reading up on the subject completely. But she did know that it was the day that people claim the son of "god" was born. She wasn't sure why people celebrated something like that, but she knew some of the details.

"Right! You really do know your stuff, don't you? Well, on that day, everyone usually gives each other gifts to show their appreciation and caring natures. I know that you really haven't seen that side of the people here, but I wanted you to have something," she pulled an arm from behind her back and showed a small teddy bear.

The girl only looked at the plush toy in confusion.

"It used to be my daughters. She loved it when she was young, but she's outgrown it. I found it in an old bag of stuffed toys that she hasn't played with in years, so I thought I'd give it to you," she explained, setting the bear down next to the girl.

"You know, even back in the old days, an abused child would have a stuffed animal or something to run and cry to, or to hold. It's only fair that you get something too. But you might want to make sure to hide it. I doubt that they'll let you keep it," the woman smiled.

The girl grabbed the teddy bear and turned it so that it faced her. She looked it over and gave it a slight squeeze, feeling how soft and comforting it was. It was as nice to feel as her first experience outside of the compound. She looked to the woman.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

The woman rubbed the child's cheek and replied, "You're welcome."

It was a happy moment in a dreary world for the girl. Something that never usually happened to her.

She suddenly felt something tugging at her, but saw nothing.

_"-at! Listen - us?!"_

_"-ake up!"_

She wasn't sure what was going on, but she looked to the woman and saw that her image was blurry and fading. There was, yet another, blackness that seemed to take her away.

--

"Cat? Can you hear me?" the familiar voice of a certain medic could be heard.

Cat's eyes opened suddenly, her eyes straying around her.

She looked up to see the worried faces of her friends staring down at her, Ratchet's hologram flashing a small penlight in her eyes. Bumblebee's hologram was holding Cat up into a sitting position, holding her shoulders tightly.

"Can you speak?" Ratchet asked.

"What's going on?" Cat asked, realizing that she was still holding onto the old teddy bear.

"Sam told us that your left optic was causing you trouble, and that you had passed out. I can't find a reason as to why this has happened," Ratchet replied, his hologram looking over Cat with concern.

"Do you remember anything?" Bumblebee asked.

Cat looked to the toy that she was holding and replied, "No... I don't remember anything... I just remember the eye acting up and the next thing I know..." the bear seemed to stare at her as the others were, "I'm talking to you guys..."

"You can't find anything at all?" Optimus' hologram asked.

"I'd have to get her back to the medical bay and run some tests just to be sure," the medic replied.

"Why are you guys in your hologram forms?" Cat asked.

"There's no sizable entrance for our normal modes in this basement. The only way that we could get down here, to you, is by using our holograms," Bumblebee replied.

"Which is why we need to get you to the medical bay. My sensors are too far away to get an accurate reading on anything from here. There could be something seriously wrong with you and I would never know if we stayed here," Ratchet added.

Bumblebee reached under Cats' legs and picked her up, walking towards the staircase.

"I can walk, Bee," Cat fidgeted.

"If you happen to pass out, you could fall down the stairs. Just hold still until we get you to the med bay," Bumblebee replied.

Cat scowled.

"Maybe that's what we should have done," Sam thought aloud as they started up the old, concrete steps," Carried her up to you guys, I mean."

Jazz was standing halfway up the stairs and he crossed his arms and smirked, "Ain't no way you coulda done that Sam."

"Why not?" Mikaela asked.

"Cat weighs more than ya kids put together. Ya woulda never even been able to roll 'er over," he replied, walking with them.

"More than us put together?" Mikaela asked, "She's twenty one, I wouldn't say she weighs more than a hundred and fifty at most."

"Cat weighs, approximately four hundred and twelve pounds," Ratchet added, "But just like the two of you, her exact weight varies depending on what she eats an how much in one sitting. That as well as horomones and-"

"Oh sure, just tell them why don't you?" Cat crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "No one wants to hear that!"

Sam and Mikaela were stopped on the stairs, stunned.

"No way!" Sam's expression looked floored beyond belief, "There's no way she weighs that much!"

"Uh, hello!" Cat tapped her knuckles against her forehead, "My skull is made of metal, remember? So is half of the other bone structures in my body," she crossed her arms and pursed her lips once again, "Which is another reason as to why I'm stable enough to walk..."

Bumblebee only smirked.

--

A few days later, Cat was finally released from the med bay. Apparently, there was nothing that even Ratchet could find as a cause to what had happened. But somehow, Cat knew.

Walking into her apartment, Cat set her keys and the teddy bear down on her kitchen table as she knelt down to scratch Rotten's back. He had approached her with an extra wag in his tail and extra slobber on the floor.

"Did you miss me? Huh?" Cat gave her friend a proper back scratching and then stood back up, looking to the bear, which was laying on the counter on it's side.

Cat sighed and picked the toy up, walking over to the couch in the living area and laid down on the couch. Her one hundred and twenty pound friend snuggled in on the couch next to her and continued to pant happily as he looked out over the edge, seemingly daring anything to come near the two while they laid comfortably on the soft couch. Cat smiled and scratched Rotten's ears absent-mindedly as she stared into the glass eyes of the stuffed animal.

Five's memories.

It was most assured that the memory she had experienced while passed out was one of Five's memories. She, herself, had never seen the bear in her entire life. She'd never even remembered Five mentioning it. But it made sense. Five had told her about the pleasant feeling of being outdoors. She'd told her about the sun hitting her skin, and in the dream she could feel it so well... And it was so real... It also made sense because Five had insisted that they take the air ducts in the first place when they tried to make the escape when Cat was fourteen. She had insisted because she had the experience to know that they would have a better chance of escaping. There was also a time, when Cat was young, that she had mentioned that she felt like the human race was just a bunch of unpleasant people who felt no compassion, but Five had come to their defense, for once. Five had told her that when she least expected it, a human would do the most caring thing that anyone would ever have done for her... Cat had wondered, if for that moment in time, Five had been under some sort of medicinal uses. She had never said anything to that effect before... If anything, the younger girl had always expected Five to agree and back her up when she had felt the need to dispurse her hatred for humans to her.

Cat looked over to the coffee table where she had photos of herself with Sam and Mikaela smiling and laughing their cares away. She couldn't help but smile at the pictures, reminding her of the first humans, besides Five, that she ever cared about and could trust. She felt warm and safe, knowing that she had Sam, Mikaela and the Autobots around to confide in. And it would never had happened, had Lillian not aided her in leaving the facility and dropping her off in the one spot where she first met the group. Five may had not made sense back on the day that she told Cat to believe... Cat smiled even more as she hugged the teddy bear close to her chest, feeling the warmth of Rotten laying next to her.

But she was right...

--

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays**


	24. Speaking to the Dead

Hey guys! Totally spaced writing the response to the reviewers for the Christmas chapter, so I'll catch up this time around for the last two chapter updates! I've decided to try updating on a Monday. Let's see how that goes. Oh! And I've revised, altogether so far, the first five chapters of the original Project Seven. The first two I never put the stamp "REVISED" on it because I didn't think of doing that at the time, but the other three do.

Responses for Chap 22:

GrimlockX4: Let's hope the cold doesn't take Cat out for good! Thanks for the support!

FORD B: Thank ya! I keep trying to find new ways to confuse and confound my readers with the ends of each chapter as well as the chapter teaser!

Response for Chap 23:

FORD B: Hope you had a happy holidays too!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat, Rotten, Five and... Well pretty much any character you're sure that you've never heard of, if one happens to pop up.

Enjoy!

---------------------------------------

_"If you hand it over, maybe I'll let you live long enough to be my pet!" Megatron bellowed as he neared closer to Sam._

_Sam was struggling to keep his hold on the old statue as he tried to maintain his balance, yet be the farthest away from Megatron as he possibly could._

_"You're not getting this Allspark, Megatron!" Sam yelled, he could feel sweat pouring down his face as he looked over the edge. Seeing the ground so far beneath him made the poor teen grasp onto the Allspark and the statue even more._

_The sickly laughs of Megatron suddenly made Sam even more aware of his situation. _

_"What are you waiting for, boy?" the evil Decepticon jeered._

_"W-What? What are you talking about?" Something was wrong... This didn't seem right._

_"Where is your savior?" Megatron continued, "Where is Prime? Why hasn't he come?"_

_Sam, once again, looked around the base of the building... There was nothing..._

_"I... I don't know! Optimus! Optimus, where are you?!" Sam yelled down, feeling a pang of uneasiness within him. His stomach turned as he heard nothing in response to his yells._

_"What the hell is going on here?!" Sam yelled to Megatron._

_"Oh, poor organic! The lowly creature doesn't understand that he's all alone now!" Megatron leaned over the edge of the building, looking at Sam directly and mocking his fear with a smirk upon his face plates. Sam was even more frightened now. He had nowhere to go, and no one to trust his life with._

_"Do you understand, now, boy?" Megatron asked._

_Sam was confused. This fact was not lost on the Decepticon leader, "Hehe... Prime is no longer! I am the only one with power over you! And now, the Allspark will be MINE!" Megatron yelled as he slashed his ball and chain at Sam, destroying the statue that he was holding onto, and sending him over the edge. Sam yelled, hoping that in this last moment, the Autobot leader would come to his aid, as he had before. He took a hold of the Allspark as tightly as possible and watched as he neared the cement ground. His face was mere inches away from death and-_

Sam awoke with a startling jump as he shot up in bed. His breath was labored and sweat was rolling down his face, soaking his hair and clothing. The first thing that came to his mind was to jump out of bed and run to the window. He opened the window as fast and as roughly as he could and stuck his head out, looking around the corner of the house. Bumblebee sat in silence as his Camaro form was quiet in recharge.

Sam sighed with relief as he pulled his head back inside the house and shut the window slowly and quietly, careful not to wake anyone. He went back to his bed and sat down, still catching his breath. He started to wonder to himself as he allowed his mind to stop racing. He had been having nightmares like these ever since Cat had returned from her trip to her surrogate mother's grave. The night's have been uneasy and sleepless for him. It had been nearly a month, and every night was filled with unending nightmares about Megatron and the fight in Mission City. Each one consisting of the same type of ending. Every moment where he should have been saved by Cat, or an Autobot, ended in their disappearance and his own death. Well, at least he was sure that was how it was supposed to end. Every time he'd come to the parts where he was about to die, he'd wake in the same fashion. Sweaty, heart racing, and being able to feel the veins in his body pound with extra adrenaline.

He was growing tired of these sleepless nights. He was more frightened of the fact that he might, actually, wake up to find Bumblebee missing, or to wake and find himself as Megatron's pet. It was tiring, and Sam was beginning to feel helpless. He needed the advice of someone who might have an understanding of what he was feeling.

Looking to his clock, Sam saw the bright green numbers flip from 1:59 AM to 2:00 AM.

There was only one person who probably wouldn't kill him if Sam called them at this hour. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Cat's number.

*Ring...Ring...Ring...Ri-* The voicemail picked up.

"Hey, this is Cat!.... If this is one of the guys, STOP CALLING! I'll call you back when I check my phone!" Sam rolled his eyes, "And for anyone else, be sure to leave a message and I'll get back to you when it's possible!"

-BEEP-

"Uh... Hey Cat. You're probably asleep, but I thought I'd try to call anyway. Listen, I've had some strange dreams lately, and I know that you've had some in the past too... I just needed to talk about them to someone... Give me a call as soon as you can, okay? See ya," he hung up his phone and set it back on the charger next to his bed.

Sam laid back down in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Yet another night that would end in no sleep...

--

Doctor Peterson had just arrived for his shift. He had left his messenger bag and briefcase in the quiet medical bay and went straight to the lounge to catch the last of the coffee. They used to have a coffee maker in the med bay, but it suddenly took to disappearing... He wasn't sure how, or why, but he was certain that getting the budget committee to buy a new one would be next to impossible, so he always tried to make it to the kitchen before they ran out. The kitchen staff of the Dam was usually good about keeping the pot filled all day, but after they stopped with the breakfast shift and started on washing the dishes, they would neglect to refill the coffee pot until closer to lunch. This was always the best time to catch the last couple of cups before that happened, so Peterson strolled to the lounge as quickly as possible. As he made his way to the doors, he heard a yell from down the hall and turned towards it.

"Yo, Doc!" The familiar sight of Jazz and Bluestreak came running towards him from the other end of the hall. And it looked as though Jazz was carrying something that was balled up in a bed comforter.

"Good Morning, Jazz and Bluestreak. What can I do for you?" Peterson asked.

Jazz skidded to a stop just in front of Peterson and knelt down to him, holding the comforter in front of the doctor, "We got a problem!"

"What sort of problem?" Peterson asked.

Jazz unveiled what was under the blanket, showing a shivering and pale Cat.

"What in the world happened?!" Peterson reached down to the girl and put a hand to her cheek.

"Ratch said that she went swimmin' in the cold weather yesterday," Jazz replied, "I think she might have a virus!"

"I'm fairly certain that you're right. Take her to the medical bay, let's get her checked out!" Peterson ordered.

"You got it, doc!" Jazz covered Cat back up and ran towards the med bay, Bluestreak following.

Peterson looked through the doors of the lounge and saw the coffee pot warming the last possible cup of caffeine. He sighed and turned towards the hallways, taking a dash towards the medical bay.

--

Ratchet had also just arrived for his shift. Normally, the CMO would have been in the med bay early in the morning, but he had scheduled a meeting with some of the suppliers for their medical supplies. The med bay was quiet... Almost too quiet... Something felt off... It was the same feeling he'd get the day that a battle would break out on Cybertron. One minute he'd be sitting in silence, the next there would be several mangled masses of Autobots being brought to him for repair. Being that his senses were usually prone to never missing a beat for such things, Ratchet began to wonder what was about to happen. Was there a Decepticon nearby? Was one of the Autobots on the base damaged? What could possibly be -

"Ratch!" The medic's cranial unit twirled around on his shoulder plating as he saw the silver lieutenant make quick halt just after bursting through the medical bay doors.

Jazz gently set the comforter down on a nearby table, Ratchet walking over to see what it was he was doing. Jazz uncovered what was in the comforter which made Ratchet's optics widen.

"I think you may 'ave been right to worry!" Jazz stared down at Cat.

Ratchet was already running scans and tests as he said, "I should have just dragged her to the med bay last night..." his hologram appeared, picking up Cat's left arm and examining it closely. The burns had turned from a mild, red looking rash, to infected and scorched skin that needed to be taken care of in a hurry.

"I thought you said that she didn't look or act sick?" Jazz asked.

"I suppose I was wrong, then, wasn't I?" the medic seethed.

"My point is that you couldn't have known," Jazz tried to encourage his old friend.

"I'm a medical officer, Jazz. I should have foreseen it..." he vented a sigh, "Not only is her temperature too low, but her body has stopped trying to heal the burn on her arm..."

"Yeh, but she's human, doc. Sure, you've 'ad thousands of years of experience with mechs, but you've never 'ad experience with human viruses," Jazz tried to calm the CMO.

Cat coughed, a congested, heavy cough. Her face contorted into a painful expression, as if even in her unconscious state, she could feel some amount of pain. At about that time, Doctor Peterson had arrived, passing Bluestreak, who was out in the hallway.

"James," Ratchet looked down to the human medical officer, "We have a serious problem..."

"Yes, I know. Jazz showed me," he took the small, movable, metal staircase behind the large examining table and walked over to Cat, looking her over carefully, "It looks as though she might have hypothermia... But the effects of that are usually immediate after the cause," he looked up to Jazz, "Did you say that she was in the water yesterday?"

"Yeah, at least," he looked to Ratchet, "That's what Ratch said."

"She had driven back to the base after having swam in a lake that she claimed to have fallen in..." Ratchet nodded.

"But she looked and acted normally?" Peterson asked.

"If she hadn't, I'd have brought her here, immediately," The Autobot grouched.

James took notice to the snap in Ratchet's voice modulator, "I didn't mean to be critical, I'm just trying to figure out why all of this seemed to take so long to take full effect on her," he knelt down and did as Ratchet's hologram had, examining Cat's left arm, "These need to be cleaned right away. And we'll need blankets, " he pinched the night shirt that the girl had on, "At least she's not soaked anymore. That'll help us out and save some time."

"Doctor Peterson!" one of the associate physicians yelled from the office, "I think you should see this!"

"In a moment," James replied before looking back to the two Autobots, "I'll have the nurses bring some warm blankets right away, as well as some solutions for those burns," he stood back up and walked to the staircase, taking it down to the floor and walking into the office, where several medical technicians and physicians were watching something on a television monitor.

Just as soon as Peterson had left, Optimus walked in, having seen Bluestreak out in the hallway and asked him what was going on. Ratchet's hologram was busy covering Cat with a single blanket that he had on the table.

"How is she?" the leader asked.

"Unless her immune system fails completely, she may have a chance, but for the time being, nothing's for certain," Ratchet answered.

"I'll go let Blue know what's goin' on," Jazz walked out of the med bay.

"Ratchet, you guys need to take a look at this," Peterson directed them towards a small monitor which he had been watching the latest news on.

**"We're here at the side of a camp grounds in the cold weather of Nevada's Lake Meade, where yesterday some, unknown, woman gave a small child another chance at life," **A field reporter smiled a large, toothy grin as she explained.

The screen flipped over to a little girl, probably no older than six. She was smiling and holding her mother's hand. **"I fell in the water and, um... I almost drowned."**

**"Did you see the woman who saved you?" **

**"Yeah... She had brown hair and a yellow eye."**

**"Did.. Did you say a yellow eye?"**

**"Yeah, and one of her arms was metal,"** The girl held up one of her arms and touched it with the opposite hand, pointing to it.

The field reporter seemed confused, as if she didn't really believe what the child was saying **, "Did it look like a costume, maybe?"**

**"No," **the child shook her head.

The image flipped over to that of a young boy **, "She must have heard my sister screaming because she came out of nowhere and jumped into the water. When she came out my sister wasn't moving or breathing so she did something and brought her back... I thought I lost my little sister..."**

**"And you're sure you saw her?"**

**"Yeah... I wasn't sure if it was a dream or something but... She saved her, so that's all that matters."**

The image flipped to the parents of the two children.

**"My boy, here, said that she zipped my daughter up in a jacket and dropped them off just outside of the camp grounds. I wish I could have met her, I mean, she did something that she didn't have to do... We almost lost a valuable member of the family and we would have never known until it was too late..." **The father was nearly in tears.

**"What would you say if you could meet this strange woman?" **The anchor asked the mother.

**"I'd say.... Thank you so much..." **She said, her voice trembling and tears falling.

Peterson looked back to Optimus and Ratchet, "Something seem familiar about this to you?"

The two Autobots turned to the unconscious girl on the table. The nurses and medical assistants were throwing heated blankets over her, and propping her head up on a pillow. She was still shivering and was now coughing even more.

"Ratchet..." Optimus started.

"I'll do everything within my powers to keep her from dying. You have my word..." The medic said firmly.

--

"Ugh... Oh man..." Cat felt her head spinning. Her body felt heavy and lathargic, as if she were completely swollen all over. She could barely lift her head as she tried to move.

**"Child."** A deep, male voice called to her. At least it sounded male. It almost sounded like Jazz's voice but it didn't sound as smooth, and as easy. It was gruff and heavy.

Cat's eyes opened, looking into nothing but pure white skies... At least she thought that's what it was...

"Oh great... _This_ can't be good..." Cat groaned as she turned over onto her stomach, letting her forehead rest on the ground.

**"Awaken, child,"** The voice boomed once more.

Cat glared into the bright nothing below her. Whatever or whoever this was, it was already beginning to annoy her, "Go away..."

The voice didn't sound the least bit amused**, "I have many things to speak to you about, Catherine."**

Cat's eyebrows curved into a confused expression, "Who are you?"

**"I'm afraid that it will take some time to explain," **The voice answered.

Cat slowly rolled over onto her back and gritted her teeth as she pulled herself into an upright position, sitting in the middle of the bright white light which surrounded her, "You mean you can't even tell me who you are? Are you a Decepticon?"

**"Hardly..." **The voice sounded somewhat disgusted.

"So... You're an Autobot? Because you certainly don't sound human," Cat tried to make headway into who or what it was that she was speaking to.

**"I am neither. I am not a Cybertronian, nor am I human. I do not associate myself with a faction of any sorts,"** it explained.

"Well then? Who the hell are you?" Cat growled. She didn't like it when strangers played mind games with her, and she certainly wasn't going to start being pawned into playing one now.

**"I suppose you could say I'm somewhat of an icon between the Autobots and the Decepticons," **it replied.

Cat raised an eyebrow once more, "An icon? But... there's only two things that they have in common," she thought aloud, "They're the same race, and were both after..." She stopped thinking, her eyes widened as her head craned from side to side, trying to find something that was around her, "There's no way!"

**"Yes, child..." **The voice said calmly**, "I am the power in which has been sought after for so long... I... Am the Allspark..."**

--

The medical bay was dark and quiet. The lights were dimmed, not that they normally were. The night shifters usually kept the area completely lit, however tonight they had a patient who required a comfortable sleeping environment. Gina Murray, currently in charge of the night shift, had made sure that everyone kept to their duties without letting so much as a pin drop to the ground. Even though the patient, Cat, was practically in a coma, if she were to wake, she may never sleep soundly for quite some time. So while she was stable, and the others were either home, or recharging, Gina was careful not to bother Cat unless it was to draw blood, or to check her vitals.

A light knock came to the office door, where Gina sat, overlooking a computer screen, "Come in," she turned around in her chair.

One of the medical technicians quietly entered the room, practically whispering as he handed Gina the clipboard he was carrying in, "The last blood tests show no sign of illness. Everything came back clean."

Gina frowned, "Then why does she still have a fever? And why isn't she awake?" she took the clipboard and flipped through the less important pages.

"Well..." the man fidgeted somewhat, "She's never actually been sick before, right? Maybe she's in some sort of shock," he shrugged.

Gina's eyes darted up to the man, giving him the 'oh really?' look.

"You're telling me, that a woman who's had dozens of surgeries, battles and close to _thousands_ of injuries in her lifetime, suddenly goes into shock over a fever?" her sarcasm wasn't all that subtle.

"My wife tells me all the time that I can handle the worst kinds of pain, but that I act like a child when I'm sick," he sort of smirked, "and to Catherine, this is a whole new territory."

Gina sighed and stood, walking over to the doorway and staring out at the large examination table in which Cat was laid upon, "I suppose it's possible. But I highly doubt it. She's still feverish by touch, sweating, and she's been shaking as if she were still in a frozen environment. It just doesn't make sense..."

"What if it's that burned arm? Maybe it's causing some sort of reaction," the man theorized.

Gina scoffed and turned back to her computer, sitting down and staring back at the computer screen, "The only reaction it could be causing would be if it were causing an infection which, " she dangled the clipboard off to the side, "would show up on these series of tests."

The man sighed, "Well then, before I go back down to the lab, do you have any new samples for me to take down?"

Gina pushed the thin, wire frame glasses back up the bridge of her nose as they were always falling, "Yeah, let me go draw some blood, while I'm thinking about it."

The doctor stood and went over to the medical cabinets, grabbing some vials, which were sealed in protective plastic. As she turned to head out the door, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, looking towards the examination table, seeing something that wasn't there before.

An unfamiliar mech stood, towering over the table, looking down at the sleeping human woman.

"Doctor Murray?" the medical technician asked, wondering what was wrong.

"Do we know that one?" she pointed towards the yellow figure.

The technician looked to who it was that she was pointing towards and replied, "Oh, him? That's just Bumblebee. He's the one that stays in Tranquility with the Witwicky's. You haven't seen him yet?"

"Working on the night shift leaves me without the more common knowledge of the day shifters... Which is why I hide the coffee maker..." Gina huffed as she made her way out to the medical bay.

Walking to the table and taking the movable metal staircase up the side, Gina walked out to where Cat laid and stopped, looking up at the new face. She noticed how he didn't seem to take notice to her presence, but she noticed even more how dim his azure optics were as they stared down at Cat. As if he were close to falling "asleep" where he stood.

"Um... Excuse me, but visiting hours are closed. We're trying to keep things calm to keep any kind of stress levels down for her," Gina announced, taking note that the dim optics only shifted to her for a mere second, before quickly shifting back over to Cat. Of course, this upset the medical officer.

"I'm not sure that you heard me... You'll need to leave or I'll-" she started before a familiar voice cut her off.

"Bumblebee?" Ratchet's calm tone asked, causing the yellow Autobot's head to turn towards the doors, "What are you doing here?" Ratchet walked further into the room, across the exam table from the other Autobot, "Aren't you supposed to be providing transportation for Sam and Mikaela to their learning facility in the morning?"

"...Sam's parents are allowing him to use one of their vehicles for a few days... I thought I'd come to see if there were any changes..." Bumblebee answered, looking back down to the sleeping form of Cat.

Ratchet's metal brow curled up into one of his famous expressions, "You didn't tell the children about the situation did you?"

"No," Bee shook his head slowly, "I didn't want to frighten them. The last time they were under the impression that she was dying, I couldn't get them to calm down enough before getting here. I thought it was best to let them stay unaware of what was going on until we were sure that..." he trailed off.

There was a slight pause in the room. Even Gina could feel the tension between the mech's, and she was a different species!

"You have the codes to Cat's apartment, right?" Ratchet asked, Bee looking back up to him with an unsure glance.

"Unless she's changed them in the last forty-eight hours, yes. Why?" he asked.

"It's the only other spot we have, right now, that can fit an Autobot into a space for recharge. She has plenty of garage space, and you're running on your reserve tanks. Go and get some rest," the medic ordered softly.

"But Ratch-" Bee started.

"She'll still be here when you come back in the morning. I promise. Besides, Rotten will need someone to keep him company in between being fed and taken outdoors. Now go, before I drag you there myself," his voice was firm, but still in a low tone.

Bumblebee nodded and slowly made his way out of the medical bay. Gina, having watched the scene, looked up to Ratchet.

"It's a bit late for you to be up, isn't it?" she asked.

Ratchet's hologram appeared next to Cat as he looked over the machines which were monitoring the girl. He scanned her himself, just to ensure that the human monitors and his systems were receiving the same results, "I suppose that I needed to check on things myself. I like to keep tabs on my patients."

Gina smiled and said, "You know we would contact you if something happened."

"Yes," he replied almost in a whisper, "I know. But just like Bumblebee, I feel like I need to check myself to be sure. As good as job that these machines are doing to monitor Cat, there could be several things that they wouldn't pick up until it's too late."

"I suppose if you weren't as thorough as you are, I wouldn't see you as the _advanced_ race," she handed the hologram the vials.

Ratchet only smiled in return.

--

"So..." Cat began, "You're telling me, that you're the Allspark..."

**"Yes."**

"The one and only cube, thing that Sam destroyed in order to take down Megatron..."

**"Yes,"** the voice answered simply.

"The benign power that could have been used for either faction, suddenly has it's own awareness and has decided to come forward and speak to me, of all people," Cat went on.

There was a sigh**, "Yes."**

Cat gave the nothing that surrounded her a raised eyebrow expression, "Really?" the sarcasm was clearly evident.

**"Actually, to correct you, I have always had an awareness. However, I have not been able to show myself to anyone besides yourself," **the voice explained.

"And why is it that you can't show yourself to anyone but me?" Cat asked.

**"Which is part of what I want to explain to you," **it replied**, "I believe your sister has spoken to you?"**

Cat's eyes widened. How could the Allspark have known about Five communicating with her? She only told Optimus and Ratchet about the one time! She'd never told them about the other dreams she had!

"A..." Cat started, "A few times... yeah..."

**"And she's mentioned, to you, about abilities that you have not yet discovered?"** it asked.

Cat was astonished. It _had_ to have been the Allspark! There was no way it was some sort of hoax!

"Well... Well yeah, but I didn't understand what she meant by that," Cat replied.

**"I can assure you that she had meant to say more, but there was little time that she had to spend with you to explain. However, even one such as Five, couldn't have told you what I know," **Cat was still a bit in shock over the idea that this... entity had known so much about her. She felt like a child, talking to someone who knew her secrets and would surely find some way to tatle on her for keeping so much from her friends.

"And what exactly _do_ you know?" Cat asked.

**"Do not worry, "** The voice chuckled**, "I would not even be able to explain all of this to the Autobots, even if I wished for it. My strength is not yet strong enough to even pull my original form back together."**

"How are you speaking to me anyway?" Cat asked.

**"Do you not remember the results of the battle several months back? The one between the Autobots and the Decepticons, which involved you and your sister?" **it asked.

"Of course I do!" Cat answered indignantly, "I remember everything from leaving the Dam to the last moments on the rooftop of that office building!"

**"Everything?" **

"Yes! I remember everything!" Cat crossed her arms.

**"So you remember the reason as to why you managed enough strength to perform the task of fusing you and your sister together?" **it asked.

"I.." Cat stopped herself from becoming angry and thought, "Okay, _that_ I don't remember."

**"I can tell you how it happened. The Witwicky boy had just used me against Megatron, and parts of my form were scattered. Do you remember the piece of metal that you picked up?"**

"A little... I was sort of in a haze between Five dying, and myself coming to terms with my own death... That and I was dying, so things are a bit fuzzy to me," Cat replied, thinking long and hard about those last moments on the rooftop just after Five had died right in front of her.

**"What you picked up was a piece of the cube form... You picked up a piece of my powers, which also fused into your body, causing a reaction. The power that was exerted when you and Five fused, was the result of this reaction."**

Cat was overwhelmed. She sat herself down on the ground, her mind racing. She was _housing_ the power of the Allspark?!

"So.. So you've been living off of me? Living off of my body?!" Cat asked.

**"I suppose you could say something to that effect... It's the reason as to why I am speaking with you, however your body isn't exactly what has been sustaining me. It was the life force that you and your sister produced. The strength of your souls. That, alone, is what I was able to use to start rebuilding my power."**

Cat wasn't sure that she could take all of this in. In the few, short, months that she had been free from her shackled existance, she was still always blown away by something new and odd... Only the odd things seemed to happen to her...

"Can't I have just _one_ normal day in my life?!" she groaned.

The voiced chuckled**, "If it comforts you at all to know this, you must know that you are not the only one to have some partial amounts of my powers."**

Cat looked up into the bright white light overhead of her, "Really? Anyone I know?"

**"Three of them, actually. All whom are you very well familiar with..."**

For a moment Cat wasn't sure if it was something she really wanted to know, but she decided to bite the bullet and ask, "Who?"

---

No Chapter Teaser this time around folks! Sorry! But I think that was as good as a teaser as it gets!


	25. Cat's Cradle

Hey guys! I know I said that I probably wouldn't update, due to the fact that my computer broke on me, but it's almost literally on it's last thread of cord that connects the hard drive to the screen. I've got a little time before it's completely broken so it gives me a chance to pull everything off of my hard drive and back everything up before I send it off. Although I'm probably going to have to replace it... It's been a good putey....

Anyway, I thought I'd be "Evil Author" again and give you a clue to coming chapters. My advice is to go back and check out Chapter 17: Before It's too Late. Cookies to anyone who can tell me what the clue is.

transformeraddict: I worry that I've made it too easy to figure out who the three are =D

FORD B: Thank you for the continuing support and reviews! Hee hee, keep taking those guesses!

--

It was a warm, cozy day a few miles outside of Tranquility. The warm weather was a nice break from the cold days that everyone had suffered through. Everyone was beginning to get back to their outside chores, mowing their lawns, trimming the hedges. However, mostly there were families taking in and enjoying the weather outside. One of those families was the Lennox group. The three were outside, playing in the grassy plains around the house. Little Annie was swinging in an infant swing while Sarah and Will were smiling and speaking sweetly to the child.

"She's getting so big, already," Will shook his head in disbelief.

Sarah giggled, "Yeah, I think we'll be needing to upgrade the infant swing to a children's swing soon enough!"

"I'm just glad that the cold has finally let up. I was thinking that it was going to snow there for a while!" He looked up into the bright blue sky. The sun was at high noon and there wasn't a single cloud in sight.

"I remember it snowing a few times when I was kid," Sarah replied, "I think we might have fun with Annie in a little snow," she smiled.

"Yeah," Will replied looking back to his daughter and making funny faces for her as she gently swung forward a little. This, of course, making the small child laugh and giggle happily.

In the middle of their play time, they suddenly heard the phone ring from inside the house.

"I'll get it," Will said as he made a dash inside the house.

"Hello?" he answered, "... Yeah, this is him... Oh... Okay..." his smile disappeared, "Yes sir... How long?... Yeah, I understand... Thanks," he hung up the phone and sighed.

At about that time, Sarah walked in, holding the little girl in her arms. She set the child down in her stool at the kitchen table and asked, "Who was it?"

"It was the military..." Will replied in a serious tone.

Sarah looked up Will with a surprised glance, "What did they want?"

"They told me that my unit would be re-deployed back to Quatar..." he replied.

"No... No they can't send you back there!" Sarah was automatically furious at the notion, "Don't they remember what happened the _last_ time?! I almost lost you!"

Will "shushed" at Sarah as he hugged her, "I know, I know..."

Sarah's eyes watered as she embraced her husband back, "How long?"

"...Three months... It's going to be another eighteen month tour..." he replied.

Little Annie's eyes also started to water, sensing the feelings from her parents. As she started to whimper, Sarah pulled apart from Will and went to her daughter, picking her back up and holding her tightly, rocking her gently.

Will sighed again, leaning against the nearby doorway. He'd only, just recently, gotten to really know his daughter and had been used to her nightly and daily routine of feedings, diaper changing, and nap times. Of course he was always willing to serve his country. It was his life. He watched as Sarah quelled their daughter's tears.

He didn't want to go...

--

**"Is everything all right?"**

Cat sat in silence. This was all just too much for her. The Allspark had allowed her a few moments to pull her thoughts together, but there was just nothing in the universe that could make her understand, easily, what she had just heard.

"Why haven't you come forward with this information sooner? It's been nearly a year since the battle! You've had plenty of time to tell one of us!"

**"I've already told you. There was no way, until now, to bring this information to your attention. Your sister has been able to contact you through your dreams, but only while close to death," **the Allspark replied.

"Wait..." Cat thought aloud, "Wait, no that's not true. I wasn't near death when Five spoke to me when I went to find Doctor Craft."

**"True, however you were suffering from severe emotional distress, which caused an imbalance of the power you hold, shifting your soul from this world. It was a large enough shift that Five and the others were enabled to speak with you... As well as try to force you to use the power you hold," **it replied.

Cat's eyes widened with shock, "You... You know about that?"

**"Of course. I have seen what your own eyes, as well as your mind, has witnessed. I would have come forward to you, myself, at that point, but the shift was too unstable. Only Five was able to contact you," **it explained.

Cat lowered her head, "I thought that after she died, she changed back... I thought that her intentions were, once again, pure... But she tried to _use_ me..."

**"She believed you were in danger. She was trying to protect you from the humans that had the intentions of either killing you, or using you."**

"She did?" Cat looked up once again.

**"Yes. Even though you've taken part of her strong-natured spirit, she knew that you wouldn't have killed the two humans."**

Cat growled, "I wasn't going to kill them because I thought that we could find out more about Sector Eleven's whereabouts by keeping them alive!"

**"Your physical wellbeing was in danger, causing your sister to take action,"** the Allspark replied**, "But for the first time, you were able to control the power. If you hadn't, three humans would have died."**

"Yes, but," Cat sighed, "It took everything I had to control myself. I felt the power surge within me. I _wanted_ it to be released.... It was begging me to-"

**"It was my power that she was forcing out of you..."**

Cat had already thought that this was the case but she looked a bit perplexed, nonetheless, "But I-"

**"Five managed to control the both of us. She used your soul's shift change to pull my energy through you. For someone whose soul has passed into death, your sister still has quite a grasp on her Alchemy," **the voice sounded a bit impressed.

"I suppose it's something that I should have expected but there's something I need to know..." her voice bordered on anguish, "How?" Cat asked.

**"...There is no sure-fire way of doing what you ask..." **The Allspark replied, already knowing what it was that Cat was asking.

"Tell me anyway..." Cat demanded, "Tell me how to find my sister!"

--

Pictures and images of happy times. Sam and Mikaela hugging, Cat smiling, the three of them sitting together under the tree of the lookout, quietly watching the sunset. Images of Cat sitting alone on the back porch of the Witwicky residence at night, when she thought that he was in recharge. Her face was filled with sorrow. Her eyes were like glass ornaments as they stared up into the sky, reflecting the light of the moon and the stars. Her lips were thin, and turned down into a slight frown. Her dark brunette hair shimmered in the lighting above her, the bangs shivering back and forth in the cool breeze of the night.

Bumblebee knew, all too well, that Cat was famous for putting up a front for everyone. She managed a smile and a laugh every now and then, and sometimes even looked as though she were truly happy. However, Bumblebee could pick up even the smallest clue that Cat showed guilt, or remorse. He knew that forgetting who she was, and what she represented would be a daunting task. But slowly Cat started to pull out of her depression, and after a while even began forgiving herself for the things that she couldn't control.

Bumblebee's optics came back online completely. He was sitting, in his Camaro form, in Cat's apartment on the garage floor portion of the entrance. He felt something warm nestling close to his left-front tire. Rotten was sleeping comfortably with his back to the Camaro's twenty-inch rims. It was somewhat of an odd experience for him. Rotten had never really gotten this close to Bumblebee before. He was a little less familiar with him due to the fact that he lived in Tranquility with the kids. Bluestreak and the twins were usually Rotten's favorite mechs. Probably because they were the ones who took turns taking care of him when Cat was gone. Though he figured that Rotten had been devastated by the sudden illness of his owner. Bumblebee was intrigued by the bonds between humans and their animal companions. After having watched Mojo interact with Sam and his parents, he searched the internet about dogs. He was even more taken back by the results. Animals could sense distress in humans, and even give their own lives to protect their owners without a second thought. Organics native to this planet were amazing. He'd seen the compassion and bravery of humans, and learned of the same behavior from animals.

Rotten, lazily, got up and stretched, yawning. He turned and looked to the Camaro expectantly.

"I suppose you need to go outside?" the voice of Bumblebee asked, Rotten walking away as if giving his answer.

Bumblebee's hologram appeared, walking over to the front entrance of Cat's apartment to grab the leather leash that hung on a hook by the door. He grabbed the leash and turned, "Let's go, boy!" using the same line that Cat used to call to Rotten's attention. The dog was nowhere in sight.

"Rotten?" Bumblebee asked, walking from the garage entrance and into the dining room, where he had seen the dog totter off to.

Looking underneath the table, Bumblebee wondered where the dog could have gone, but turned when he heard scratching noises. Rotten was scratching at one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. He looked back at the hologram with his large, brown eyes as though to tell him what he wanted, expecting him to understand.

Bumblebee walked over to where Rotten was and bent down, stroking the Rottweiller's back, "What is it?"

He was about to pull the dog away to get him to the front door, when he noticed something. There were hundreds of scratch marks on the window plating. He'd only heard Rotten scratch about two or three times. Obviously this meant that Rotten was expecting something specific. Bumblebee looked around the metal framing of the glass and noticed small scratches in the frame. It looked as though it was scratched with a tool of some kind, to pop the glass out of place. After examining the window, carefully, Bumblebee gave a few hard taps to the frame and watched as the glass gently swung open.

Rotten jumped out of the window and walked along the rocky, red cliffs, disappearing off behind a higher row of rocks, following a small trail. Bumblebee was about to follow, however something on the ground, outside of the windows caught his attention. There was a long piece of string that looked partially uncovered by trail dust. He picked the string up, feeling something a bit heavier on the other end following. Bumblebee held the object up on the other end of the string and saw that it was a small suction cup. His, confused, human eyes turned back towards the glass. On the inside corner of the window, there was a small suction cup imprint. Bumblebee smirked.

Cat had put this window on hinges so that it only opened from the inside. However in the event that the window closed, Cat would put the suction cup on the inside of the window and leave the string hanging outside so that she could pull it back open. Humans never ceased to amaze the mech, especially the humans he knew. Bumblebee placed the string and the suction cup back on the ground and covered it up just as it had been before. He closed the window, knowing full well that his hologram could get in and out without requiring the aid of the set-up Cat had.

"Rotten!" he called as he followed the trail.

--

"Sam?" the boy bolted up into a sitting position at the mention of his name.

The other kids in the class giggled as Sam looked around in a rush, having the feeling of being under attack for a few seconds. He settled down, feeling the pounding in his chest calming as well. Looking up to the teacher, he felt his beating heart fall into the pit of his stomach. The woman stared down at the teen with a worried glance.

"Are you all right? Maybe you should go see the school nurse..." she asked.

"No... No I'm fine... Just tired," he answered, slumping in his seat. He could almost feel the heated glances of the other students on the back of his head.

The teacher leaned down and asked in a whisper, "Are there problems at home? You can always talk to the teachers if-"

"I said I'm fine..." Sam replied before the teacher could go any further. He, then, sighed and asked, "Actually, can I get a hall pass for the bathroom?"

"Sure," the woman replied, signing the slip on the back of Sam's agenda.

Sam got up from his seat, quickly making his way out of the classroom and down the hall to the restroom. He went straight to the sink and turned the cold faucet on, cupping his hands under the falling water and splashing his face. As he finished, he pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and dried his face.

"Sam?" Mikaela's voice asked through a crack in the restroom door.

"Yeah?" he asked.

Mikaela looked around down both ends of the hall and snuck through the door. She walked around the wall to the sinks and stopped as she looked over at her boyfriend. Sam was leaning over one of the sinks, staring at himself in the mirror.

"I... saw you run in here... You all right?" she asked.

"...Yeah..." Sam replied quietly.

Mikaela walked forward, leaning on the wall just a few feet away from her boyfriend, "I've been meaning to talk to you.."

"Yeah? About what?" Sam asked as he grabbed another paper towel.

"It's just that you've been so distant lately. I wasn't sure what to think," she started.

"It's nothing. I'm just going out of my mind worrying about colleges and classes," he replied in a monotonous tone.

"Your mom told me that you haven't been sleeping," Mikaela pointed out.

"I'll get over it," Sam sighed.

Mikaela's intuition told her that Sam was lying big time. She could tell after having dealt with Cat and her inability to explain her feelings. This made her even more determined to get Sam to tell her what was _really _bothering him.

"I think you want to talk about something, but you're afraid to. Please tell me," she asked in a sweet tone, trying to convince Sam that it was all right to confide in her.

Sam didn't feel comfortable talking about what his problems have been with the dreams. But he turned to her and put his back to the wall behind him, crossing his arms.

"I've been having these weird, vivid dreams lately. And they keep me awake at night after I have them," he explained.

"What sort of dreams?" Mikaela asked.

"Mostly about the stuff that happened just before and during Mission City... Like hanging off the side of the building, but no one comes to help me... Things like that," he finished.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Mikaela asked, feeling hurt that he didn't want to talk to her about this sooner.

"I... I didn't want to scare you..." Sam replied.

Mikaela rolled her eyes, "You don't have to protect me, Sam. If you're having problems like this, I want to help!"

"You don't know what kinds of dreams I've been having! I feel like I'm about to die at the end of them, and then I can't sleep!" Sam explained.

"Sooo... Basically, I wouldn't know what you're going through, right? I wasn't at Mission City, or fighting giant alien robots, so I wouldn't know what you're going through, right?" Mikaela was hurt that Sam felt that way.

"No, I didn't say that. It's just that I keep having dreams about being on top of that building, and when Megatron knocks me off, I fall and no one's there... When I wake up I feel like I really just about hit the pavement and I think I'm going to die," he replied quietly.

Mikaela sighed, "How long have you been having these dreams?"

"Just under a month... I've tried calling Cat, but she won't answer her cell phone or call back. Bumblebee wouldn't tell me why he had to dash off back to the Dam, so I don't know what to think..." Sam replied.

"You called Cat, but you wouldn't talk to me?" Mikaela asked, an obvious hint of attitude in her voice.

"She's had dreams that were terrifying before... I didn't mean to leave you out of this, I just didn't want you to -"

"Know what's going on?! You know, because it's not like I didn't have nightmares for a while after all of that, it's not like I gave any effort into helping the Autobots either, right?!" Mikaela turned and left the restroom.

Sam sighed, mentally lamenting himself for thinking that Mikaela wouldn't feel a little out of the loop. However, now more than ever, he felt abandoned. He'd tried calling Cat an abundant of times, but she never answered. Bumblebee had left in a hurry, only making sure that Sam was in an agreement with his parents about transportation. He never, once, tried explaining to him what was going on at the Dam. And now Mikaela was pissed at him for withholding information from her... He wasn't sure why everyone had just suddenly gone silent, but he wished that they would just stop to listen to him.

Grabbing his handbook, Sam left the bathroom and headed back to his class.

--

Bumblebee walked into the med bay, looking around and seeing hardly any of the human medical crew around.

"Hey Bee!" he looked up to see Sideswipe waving at him from across the room. Him and Sunstreaker were standing near the exam table that Cat had been laying on, still unconscious.

Bumblebee walked over to the two, standing on the other side of the table from them, "Any changes?"

"Fever's back, but it isn't as high as it was yesterday," Sideswipe answered with a sigh.

Bumblebee looked down to the sleeping woman, her face was sweaty, and her eyes were clamped shut. It was as though she were fighting something even in her dreams.

"Long way to come just to see her sleep," Sunstreak commented.

"She hasn't visited in a while. I wanted to make sure that she was all right," Bumblebee replied, gently taking one of his metal fingers and nudged her cheek, just to see if he could get a response, "Jazz was certain that she was going to offline days ago when he contacted me," Cat's skin felt as if it were on fire next to the touch of his warm hand, "Where's Ratchet?"

"Doing every research he can possibly think of in Jack's lab," Sunny answered, "The human docs' are in a meeting with some specialists," he looked over at Bumblebee with a sudden look of curiosity, "How was the night in the apartment? Did you take Rotten out or should we do that later?"

Bumblebee smirked, "It was fine. I just took him outside a few minutes ago, so he should be fine for a while," he looked up to the other two mechs and said, "You wouldn't believe what Cat has installed in her apartment. When I went to take Rotten out, he went over to a window in the dining room that-"

"You've found it?!" Sideswipe asked in a raised voice.

"Shut up, Sides!" Sunny growled.

"Was I not supposed to?" Bumblebee asked.

The two looked to the smaller mech from across the table, "We helped Cat install that earlier in the month. It was supposed to be a way out in case Frenzy happened by or the kids needed to get out of the apartment in case of an emergency," Sunny answered.

"Yeah, but it turned into an easy way for Cat to take Rotten out once he started insisting on being taken out that way," Sideswipe smirked, "Easier for us too. Cat's gone a lot so we're usually the ones to take care of him. It's easier to let him out through there than it is to take him all the way out of the base through the garage."

"We haven't told anyone about it because we don't want word getting around the base," Sunny added.

"Why not?" Bumblebee asked.

"Well..." the twins looked to each other and back to Bee, "Cat says that there's always a chance that one of the humans could know too much and find a way to betray the bases' primary codes to cover up and protect all of us."

Bumblebee sighed and shook his head, "Same old Cat..."

Bee continued to rub at Cat's cheek, the three of them growing quiet as they thought to themselves.

"Listen, Bee. It was good to see you, but we've got to get to our shift duties for-"

"Bumble... Bee..." the sudden raspy voice of Cat quickly caught the three's attention.

"No way!" Sideswipe's optics widened.

Bumblebee attempted to open his communications to Ratchet, but found that there was a high magnetic field, which was reacting to his sensors.

"Sunny, go get Ratchet," Bee asked. Sunny nodded and ran off towards Wheeljack's lab.

"Cat?" Bumblebee leaned closer to her, "Can you hear me?"

Cat's head reacted to the warm metal of Bumblebee's touch as she pulled away a little, reaching her left hand out to touch at what it was that was nudging at her. The yellow mech felt a smile tug at his faceplates as he relished in the fact that this could be a sign that her health was returning. Her eye's rolled under the eyelids as they opened just a crack.

"She's waking up!" Sideswipe announced.

Bumblebee was near ecstatic as well. His blond hologram appeared next to the girl, picking her up from under her head and holding her in a near sitting position. Her eyes fluttered open just a hair more before they started looking around, catching sight of Bumblebee's smiling hologram.

Instead of looking up at Bee with a faint smile of some kind, the mech turned from elated into confused when he noticed a remorseful look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked.

Cat's mouth forced into making a shape for words, failing miserably.

"What?" he asked.

"R..ru...r..r.." she whispered.

"What's she saying?" Sideswipe asked.

"I'm not sure," Bee replied, keeping his attention on her.

"R..ru..r..run!" she managed.

"Run? Run from what?" Sideswipe was confused even more than usual.

"I don't understand either..." Bumblebee answered.

"Where the slag is Sunny and Ratchet?!" Sideswipe tried calling to Sunny through his internal communications but also found a high range of static, "What's going on?"

Bumblebee couldn't understand why Cat was so scared until he realized what might have been happening. He quickly began trying to run a biological scan on the girl, but found that the magnetic field was even higher in intensity around her.

"Sideswipe, get out of here before-!" Bumblebee tried to warn.

A bright blue energy shot from Cat's body, shocking the two mechs in the room, causing Bumblebee's hologram to dissipate, dropping Cat back down to the table. The energy surge quickly reduced to nothing, leaving Sideswipes' and Bumblebees' bodies lying still on the floor of the medical bay.

"Mrrm," Sideswipe's optics activated, leaving him feeling sore in his circuits, "Oh man..." he sat up, using the exam table to steady himself into a standing position, "What a jolt, eh Bee?"

There was no answer.

Sideswipe looked over the table, Cat was laying motionless, her eyes shut once again. He looked over to the other side of the table, "Bee?"

Bumblebee was on the floor, also motionless. His optics were black, and the hum of his internal systems were silent.

"Bee?"

--

Once again, I feel like this makes good enough of a chapter teaser. And I know you're all probably upset that you didn't find out who the other three are in this chapter, but it'll be soon, I promise!


	26. Out of Proportion

Hey guys! Got my computer problems worked out (at least for another two years until this one poops out on me). As for the story, I'm getting to some of the nitty gritty, so I'm excited because Cat will be put to the test two chapters from now when I can update into the Valentines chapter. Yeah, I'm aware that it won't be Valentines day by that time, but under the circumstances of school and computer issues, it's the best I can do.

**A new poll** is located in my profile, so be sure to check it out!

FORD B: Yeah, computer problems seem to happen to me more often than not. Now I'm going to try something new to keep it from overheating. I bought a laptop cooling pad on ebay, and I'm hoping that it'll extend the life of the cooling fan, and reduce heat cracks. Anyway, thanks for your continuing support!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat (Seven) as well as Rotten and Five. **I've had some reports** of a copy Seven out there, and I'm a bit dismayed that someone would steal her (since there _are_ other numbers out there to choose from) If you have another character that you wish to write about, I'm all for it, but please stop the copying of my original character... Also, from what I understand of this copy, the writer is someone who used to be on one of my stories' "favorites" list... Dissapointment...

Enjoy!

--

"Under the circumstances, I don't see how this wouldn't be the ideal solution for now," Prowl explained.

An emergency meeting was called for technicians, supervisors and Autobots alike. The newest surge that Cat had created, sent a short burst of residual energy through some of the systems of the medical bay's floor, which caused a short blackout. The medical crew were still assisting with repairing Bumblebee, so they weren't present. The situation was calming down, however there was still a debriefing at hand.

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Bluestreak asked.

"Yeah," Sideswipe added, "I mean, she tried to warn us before it happened. It's not like she did it on purpose!"

"Be that as it may, she nearly offlined the both of you," Prowl argued, "I believe a containment field would be beneficial until we can investigate what this is caused by. If we don't, another surge could possibly offline the medical crew."

Optimus vented a sigh as he thought carefully. If it weren't bad enough that he had Cat near death, now he had Bumblebee to worry about; as well as the worries of the humans and Autobots about whether or not they could be next.

"I understand both sides," he replied, "And I want to make it clear to everyone that I don't belief that Cat is, purposefully, putting everyone in danger."

"I'm not saying that we lock her up," the regional advisor of the Dam's operations had attended and was putting in his two cents, "But if there's a way to keep her from harming any of my employees, then I want it done. You've nearly suffered a loss at her hands," he directed towards Optimus, "How are we supposed to be sure that it won't happen again, this time she actually harms humans?"

"She's never hurt any of ya," Ironhide's gruff, old voiced added, "Every time this happens one of _us_ gets our circuits fried."

"Yes, but we don't know how long it will be until she _does_ do damage. For all we know, the next time could be genecide for both sides... I've already have some of the Dam's staff threaten to turn in their notices and badges if something isn't done today," the manager finished.

The room was quiet for a moment. Optimus didn't like being left with the decision of whether or not to contain one of his most trusted allies. He knew that Cat wouldn't have wanted it, however he didn't want to lose anyone else to the possibility that she could subdue his men in a split seconds' time. He also couldn't stand by and watch her kill a mass amount of humans. As much as it disheartened Optimus, Prowl's idea of placing Cat in a containment field was the only way to keep the mood calm at the Dam.

"Prowl, as soon as Wheeljack is finished helping Ratchet, I'd like the two of you to construct this containment field," Optimus ordered.

"You can't be serious!" Jazz disagreed, "This is Cat we're talkin' about here! Optimus, I know she's a hot-head, but she's not a murderer!"

The leader only nodded slightly, "I know, Jazz... I know."

The meeting was dismissed, and almost everyone had left. However, Jazz, Ironhide, the twins and Bluestreak had stayed behind to try and talk some sense into Optimus.

"I'm sorry men, but this is my decision for now. I have humans and my team to worry about," Optimus explained.

Before their arguments could be presented, Ratchet and Wheeljack walked into the room. Everyone looked to the two expectantly.

"How's Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"He'll recover," Ratchet replied. He was about to go into more detail but not before looking straight to Jazz, "Jazz could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, doc," the silver mech replied.

"While Bumblebee is in recovery, could you take his place in Tranquility for a while?" the medic asked softly.

"You mean right now?" Jazz asked.

"If you could, yes," Ratchet replied.

Jazz looked from the medical officer to Optimus for a moment, wondering what was wrong, "No problem..."

"Thank you. I'll be sure to keep you updated, lieutenant," Ratchet nodded.

Jazz made his way out of the meeting room, still left wondering what it was that Ratchet wasn't telling him. However, he knew that Sam and Mikaela were going to need an explanation as well. He left the room without so much as asking what was going on.

"Could I speak to you, Optimus?" Ratchet asked.

"Of course," the leader replied, "The rest of you still have your duty roster to take care of. You're all dismissed."

The group left Ratchet and Wheeljack to speak, alone, with Optimus as the three sat down at the table.

"What can you tell me?" Optimus asked.

"It's hard to say. All of my readings on Cat are as inconclusive as they were those months ago when she last created the surge. It's as if whatever it is that caused this, just disappeared inside of her. I can't find any reason, medically, as to why this power just suddenly revealed itself," Ratchet explained.

"I see," Obviously this wasn't the answer that Optimus was hoping for, "I'm afraid that the Dam's staff refuses to stay unless we contain Cat... And, for now, I've agreed that we could take this precautionary measure for as long as it's needed."

"Contain her?" Wheeljack asked.

Optimus nodded, "Yes. Prowl has suggested that we use a brig setup the same way we would contain a Decepticon."

"That seems a bit overdone," Ratchet thought aloud.

"Agreed. But until Cat wakes, we can't be sure that it won't happen again. So for now, I've agreed to it."

Ratchet vented a sigh, "As long as I can be the first to monitor her, I suppose I can agree to it as well."

"Good. Now what's the full status on Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"The damage to him is just as strange as the energy itself. It shorted out his processor, however it also cut the energon lines to his lower ligaments. He'll recover, and I've repaired the lines, but I can't help but feel as if this was a specific kind of damage."

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked.

"It's the same kind of damage that was inflicted to him during the battle in Mission City, when Starscream attacked him and Ironhide."

"... You mean-" Optimus started.

"It looks as though the damage that was repaired by the fusion between Cat and Five in Mission City, was re-inflicted... The surge merely reversed the repair," the medical officer was unsure how to explain what could have done this to the seeker.

It only took Optimus a moment to understand why Ratchet had asked Jazz to take Bumblebee's spot in Tranquility. "So you asked Jazz to take care of Sam and Mikaela because you were afraid that the same thing might happen to him?"

Ratchet nodded, "Bumblebee was injured severely in Mission City. However Jazz was torn in two by Megatron. If he had been within reach of this surge, he would have been offlined beyond repair... I didn't tell him about my fears because I knew he would brush me off. This way he just thinks that he's taking care of Bumblebee's obligations while he recovers."

At that moment, Gina Murray walked into the meeting room, "I'm sorry to disturb you guys. But I have some uplifting news for you."

The three Autobots turned to the human medical professional.

"What sort of news?" Ratchet asked.

Gina smiled widely, "Catherine is awake."

--

"Oh god..." Cat groaned, feeling a pounding in her head. Her human arm, and her legs weren't much better. In fact her whole body felt heavy and ached.

"Uh, sir?" a strange female voice broke the silence in Cat's head. It was a voice with a heavy accent of some sort... It was actually kind of familiar.

"Yes, ma'am?" a male voice asked from far off.

"I think she's coming around," the woman advised.

"What?" the voice of Gina Murray asked, the sound of footsteps rushed close to Cat.

Her eyes had been closed, but someone forced her right eye open, pointing a pen light into it, "Catherine? Can you hear me?" Doctor Murray asked.

"Why are you asking me if I can hear, when you're pointing a light in my eye?..." Cat griped.

"She's fine, " Doctor Peterson announced with a slight chuckle.

The light was retracted from her vision as Cat closed her right eye again, feeling too weak to keep them open, "The hell is going on?" she demanded.

Gina scoffed and turned to Peterson, "Since she's awake, I'm going to leave her in your capable hands."

"That's fine," Peterson replied, "Could you do me a favor first and get Ratchet? Him and Wheeljack just left to go meet Optimus in their meeting room."

"Sure," Gina sighed. She was really hoping that after having gained a few extra hours of overtime she could go home and rest. But if it was one single task, she'd do it. Leaving the oversized examination table, Cat could hear her footsteps clanging against the metal staircase.

"I'm in the med bay?" Cat asked.

"Yes you are. It's a miracle that you made it here when you did," Peterson replied, checking the monitors that were attached to Cat, "Your fever is gone again. Maybe waking up is a sign that it'll stay away."

Cat's eyes fluttered open, "Fever?"

"Yes, you've been sick as a dog for three days now. How are you feeling?" James asked.

"Like Ironhide ran me down..." Cat replied with a touch of a groan.

James chuckled again, "Well I can assure you that he's done no such thing."

"Uh," the thick accented woman spoke up, "Should I be going?"

Cat whimpered a little as she turned her neck to the side, looking over to see who it was that was speaking. The woman had blonde, somewhat curly hair, and blue eyes. She was thin and-.... Wait... Cat knew who this was.

"Maggie?" Cat asked in a whisper.

James and Maggie turned towards Cat, James looking surprised. Maggie only smiled a little as she replied, "You remember," it was more of a statement than it was a question.

"Course I remember..." Cat's chest lifted high as she took in a deep breath, "I can remember back when I was two years old. Why wouldn't I remember last year?"

Maggie smiled as she sat down next to the girl, "Well we didn't see that much of each otha'. I figured you'd draw a blank at the sight of me."

Cat coughed to clear her airway, "What brings you all the way out here? I thought you were given a job back in Washington D.C.?"

"I got a call, yesterday, that I was needed to come here and examine you," she replied.

"Examine me?" Cat asked, "I thought you were a computer geek?"

Maggie giggled and replied, "Well, more specifically, examine your left eye. I was told that you were ill, for unknown reasons, and that they wanted me to take a look at your eye to make sure it wasn't a cause."

"Why wouldn't Ratchet do that?" Cat asked.

"They thought I might be able to come up with a solution that they couldn't think of since I uncovered their secret last year. Ratchet was searching for known causes, but they were hoping I could find a lesser cause," Maggie explained.

"Ah... I see," Cat allowed her left eye to boot up, giving her a chance to test it out for herself.

"Is it working all right?" James asked.

"So far so good..." Cat replied.

"Well then, I see my work is done," Maggie stood, "It's good to see you again."

"Yeah, same here," Cat gave a small nod.

Maggie exited from the platform and left the med bay. James turned to Cat with a slightly confused expression.

"What?" Cat asked, noticing the look he was giving her.

"I don't get it... You barely know her, but you give her and Captain Lennox more respect than you give us here! Why?" he asked.

Cat looked away, a slight growl wanting to procure in her throat, "You work here..."

James was about to ask her what that had to do with him, but he suddenly stopped himself.

"You know none of us would ever hurt you..." he told her softly.

Cat just continued to look away in silence. There was already too much thought swimming around in her head; she didn't need to add to it

James sighed and nodded just before turning to the sounds of giant robot feet hitting the concrete floor. Cat turned her head and smiled faintly at the sight of the three Autobots.

"So it's true," a smile appeared on Ratchet's faceplates.

"Hey..." Cat breathed.

"Fever's gone, and so far everything, both mechanical and organic, seem functional," James reported.

"At least we have _one_ back," Wheeljack thought aloud.

Cat looked over to the scientist, "What are you talking about?"

"You... Don't remember?" Peterson asked.

"Remember what?" Cat was almost concerned to the point of not wanting to know what they were talking about.

Doctor Peterson looked up from Cat and gave a small nod, pointing to across the medical bay. Cat lifted her head and craned her neck, feeling a small strain by trying to move. She looked across the bay to where James had pointed her. Cat's face went from calm to a look of complete and utter terror as she spotted Bumblebee. She saw that his leg armor was missing and he was unconscious.

Cat's head swung back around towards the others, "What the hell happened?!"

--

There was just nothing like it. Just the way that the roads wound, the way that the winds could activate the olfactory sensors. Jazz was always finding reasons to like this planet almost every day that he was there. He also really enjoyed it when he could get back to Tranquility. Sure he spent several, boring, months here while they were waiting for the Dam to be finished, but as far as he was concerned, the hustle and bustle of Tranquility was far more exciting than living in the middle of a desert. He was also content with the idea of getting to see two of his favorite humans, Sam and Mikaela. Though, of course, his mind wasn't far from what was happening at the Dam, he felt a small bit of relief to be back on the roads.

Pulling up to Tranquility High, Jazz went around to the rear of the school, where most of the children were exiting to their cars in the parking lot. The school had just let out only a moment ago, so he was sure that he could find Sam or Mikaela. If not, he could always take a trip over to the Witwicky household to find Sam. Activating his hologram to keep the illusion that someone was driving the Pontiac Solstice, Jazz spotted Mikaela almost right away. She was walking with a couple of other female humans, talking happily. Jazz decided to beat the girls to the punch as he quickly shot into the parking lot and pulled around a small island of trees. He pulled up to the curb and allowed his very well toned hologram to exit the driver's side door and walk to the other side. He leaned up against his alt form and crossed his arms, awaiting for Mikaela to notice him as she stepped out into the parking lot.

"I don't think I'll ever get this homework packet done..." one of the girls commented with a sigh.

"Yeah, I don't know what Mr. Hopper was thinking when he assigned this!" the other girl on the other side of Mikaela agreed.

Mikaela was about to comment when her eyes quickly caught sight of a familiar face. She smiled and turned to her friends, "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"I thought you needed a ride home?" her friend asked, concerned as to why Mikaela had suddenly changed her mind.

"Sorry, but I think I've got another ride home today," Mikaela trotted off into a different direction.

"Hey, Kayla!" Jazz smiled brightly, "How's ma girl?"

"Better now that someone familiar is here!" She beamed.

"Where's Sammy? I'm suppose ta take care o' you guys for a while," Jazz looked around thinking that where Mikaela was, Sam wouldn't be too far behind.

Mikaela's eyes suddenly strayed away as her body language told Jazz something was wrong.

"I don't know, I think he drove his mom's car to school today," she responded.

Now Jazz was sure that something was wrong, "Didn't you ride with him?"

Mikaela shook her head, "He's been kind of an ass lately and I'm waiting for him to apologize."

"Sam? Our Sam?" Jazz asked.

"I guess it's a long story..." Mikaela nodded.

Jazz's passenger door opened as he replied, "Well let's go for a ride, and you can tell me all about it," his hologram led her to the passenger door, waiting for her to sit down so he could close the door and sit back inside the driver's side. When he was finally settled, the Solstice slowly made its way out of the parking lot, careful not to accidentally hit another high school student.

"So what's goin' on?" Jazz asked softly.

Mikaela sighed and began to explain, "He hasn't been sleeping very well because of some dreams he's been having."

"Dreams?" Jazz suddenly went from inquisitive to seriously concerned. After all, Cat's dreams have been causing her trouble as well. Jazz was certain that Cat was an abnormal case all on her own, but who knew what humans, in general, could do.

"Yeah, something about the stuff that happened in Mission City. He says that he sees himself being cornered by Megatron, but no one comes to help him and right before he dies, he wakes up," Mikaela didn't want to make Sam anymore upset at her by telling someone his problems, but she had considered calling one of the guys and talking to them sooner or later if he didn't anyway.

Jazzs' hologram face went straight to shock, "Megatron?"

Mikaela nodded, "Yeah... When I tried to talk to him about it he just brushed me off and told me that I'd never understand. It made me mad that he didn't think I could help him, and when I tried to talk to him it was like talking to a brick wall. I got mad, and I haven't talked to him since then."

Jazz wasn't sure what to say. Usually, when something like this happened to one of his fellow Autobots, it would be about right after a traumatic experience with a battle. But this was a human, and although he'd been around them for nearly an Earth year, he wasn't sure how to react. However he chose to continue asking Mikaela questions.

"Anything else been goin' on?"

Mikaela sighed and nodded once more, "Yeah. Neither of us have been able to get in touch with Cat," her face suddenly turned from exasperated to confused, "Which brings me to something else. Not that I mind, but why are you here instead of Bumblebee? Where'd he go off to?"

Uh oh. Jazz was fully expecting the kids to want to know what was going on, but he also knew that, until things calmed down, Ratchet and Optimus didn't want to scare the teens into thinking that Cat was dying, or that, now, Bumblebee was on the brink of death.

"He's just got some stuff to take care of. He should be back in a few days, but until then ya got me," the dark skinned hologram smiled to encourage a different mood.

Mikaela smiled, grateful that she had Jazz to talk to, but she was still bothered by the avoidance of what she wanted to know.

"What about Cat?" she asked, "She hasn't answered her cell phone or her apartment phone for a few days either."

"She, uh, broke her cell phone..." Jazz thought quickly, making sure to avoid looking into Mikaela's face.

"And what about her apartment line? Did she break that too?" Mikaela was certain that she was being lied to.

"Dunno," Jazz shrugged, "She's been pretty tied up lately."

"With what?" Mikaela persisted.

"You know how Cat is..." Even Jazz didn't buy it.

"Yeah, I _do _know Cat. And up until about three or four days ago, she and I would talk on the phone nearly every day. Why would she stop so suddenly?" Mikaela asked.

Jazz didn't want to break what Bumblebee was trying to do by not scaring the kids, but he was starting to think that it might have been worse trying to cover up their tracks, "You'd probably be better off taking that up with her when she calls ya back."

"Fine..." Mikaela looked out the window. Not only was Sam trying to keep her out of his problems, but it was obvious that their alien friends were hiding something from her as well. And if they didn't want her to know, she'd just ignore them too.

Jazz looked over to the teenager as she stared out the window. He was a mech that had dealt with many femmes in his lifetime, and knew what that look was, no matter if it was a Cybertronian or a human.

"Kayla-" he started before being cut off.

"You can stop here. My apartment's just down this alley..." she hinted that she wasn't interested in anymore excuses and as soon as Jazz came to a halt, she threw open the door and slammed it behind her, walking straight down the alley, not even looking back. Jazz watched to make sure that she got to her apartment safely and then slowly started off towards the Witwicky household... Maybe he'd have better luck with Sam...

--

The medical crew had been able to calm Cat after the shock of seeing Bumblebee injured and unconscious. It probably wouldn't have been as bad if it weren't for the fact that Cat was told she was responsible. The shock After having been calm for a few minutes Cat asked that everyone but the Autobots leave. When that was done, she had a rather large task ahead of her.

Being propped up into a sitting position, Cat looked ahead to see the three that stood before her. She sighed and said, "I'm not exactly sure where I should start..."

"Just do your best. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll be able to help," Optimus encouraged.

"All right..." she looked up to Optimus, Ratchet and Wheeljack, "I know what this surge problem is."

"Do you?" Ratchet was surprised.

"Yeah... I kind of had a talk with someone about it while I was sick. Up until now, the reason why I was able to activate the power of that fusion spell with Five had been a complete mystery to me. I couldn't remember anything past the point of watching Five die. But now I have the answers..." she took a deep breath and then decided to let it all out, "When I was on the rooftop, I remember hearing the commotion that was going on below me..."

--

-FLASHBACK-

"At least this way... There will be nothing... left of us... to pick up after..." she looked into the eyes of Five with tears stinging her own and continued, "I can't heal us Five... And neither can you now... you're too weak and you're dying... just the same as me..."

Five's eyes widened and she made to try and shake her head, but could only manage a slight twitch in her neck. Her harsh breathing in her chest increased as she reached to put a hand on Cat's cheek. Cat closed her eyes, warm tears falling from her eyes onto Five's soft hand. Before Cat had realized it, Five had taken her hand back and brought her other one up as well, slightly clapping them together, then dropping them to the ground. Cat's own eyes went wide in surprise as she saw the transmutation circle that she had made begin to change forms and twist into a different shape. When the blue light that had formed from Five's change had gone away, Cat looked at the circle and looked at Five with a questioning face.

"But... That would never work... You know that it... can't work!" Cat tried to make sense of what Five was doing.

"NO!" Cat's head twisted back to where she had heard Optimus yell, and felt a strange rumble of power beneath her.

Just then, Five coughed and blood splattered from her mouth, Cat turned back to Five and watched as her older sibling took one last, long, deep inhale. Her chest then settled and her eyes went into the back of her head.

Five was dead.

Cat's eyes lowered to Five's facial features as she reached a hand up to move some of the blood-soaked hair out of Five's face.

"I don't know... if I can do it... I don't think I even... have the strength..." Cat wondered aloud.

Just as she had said this, Cat heard a noise as if something had dropped right next to her, just outside of the transmutation circle. Looking over to it, she saw that it looked to be a piece of a strange, black metal, which was still smoking and blue sparks making it twitch. It was only about the size of a marble.

Picking the metal piece up in her left hand, Cat brought it up to her face to get a better look at it. However, as she did this, she felt a powerful sting from the object, like a burn. She flipped her wrist in reaction to this pain, but it didn't go away. She looked back to her hand and saw that the piece of metal was fusing into her palm, disappearing into her skin. She turned her hand over back and forth, looking to her palm and the back of her hand to see where the metal had gone. Before she knew what was happening, blue sparks formed all around her arm and pain shot up from her arm into her torso, shooting up and down her spine and into her legs, as well as her head. Cat's face looked up to the sky as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

-END FLASHBACK-

--

"An Allspark fragment," Ratchet knew, almost immediately what Cat had made reference to.

"Yeah... It was a piece of the Allspark that fused into me, which provided the energy I needed to complete the transmutation," Cat nodded, "Five tried to tell me about it when we had that whole disaster after the new guys arrived, but I didn't understand what it was that she was trying to tell me..." she lowered her head, "But now I do..."

"Five told you this?" Optimus asked.

"No... Not exactly..." Cat's eyes softened, "But I do know one thing for sure. I need to find Five and have a little chat with her..."

"How do you propose that you do that?" Wheeljack asked in a curious tone, "I was under the impression that your sister was offline?"

Ratchet raised an eye ridge, "She is."

"Right... So there's only one way for me to find her," Cat commented, "I have to die..."

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat looked up to the three that were standing before her. She knew that this was the part that would be the hardest for them to "swallow" so to speak.

"The Allspark... Spoke to you?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah... And it told me a few things that I think you ought to know too."

"Go on," the leader aknowledged what Cat was trying to tell them.

Cat looked directly to Optimus and said, "You may not know it, but you're carrying part of the Allspark's power too. By having that fragment, you're keeping its power with you."

"Now that I think of it, "Ratchet interjected, "I've never had a chance to examine that fragment of yours, Optimus."

Optimus opened a spot in his chest compartment, pulling out and revealing the jagged piece of metal that he had kept with him since the battle with Megatron. He looked it over just before handing it to the medic.

"Anything else?" Wheeljack thought that maybe this wasn't the end to Cat revealing this new information.

"Yeah... There's two more who have a portion of the Allspark's power..."


	27. Midnight Chat

Hey guys! I had some time, so I thought I'd drop in and try an update. This definitely isn't one of my greatest chapters, but you know how they say, "It's always darkest before dawn" ? Yeah, the next chapter takes the cake (at least I hope). I've actually gotten some later chapters written, even through homework and work, and everything else that poos on my extra time. But anyway, here's some info and reviewer feedback, then I'll throw in a little disclaimer, then onto the story!

Info: I've managed to start a deviant account and recently I actually started getting some things done on it. Right now I only have one piece of drawn work and the rest are photography work, but I'm hoping to get some portraits of Cat up soon. But who knows? I might get the up sooner than I think! Here's the link to my account, which is also located in my profile: .com/.

Reviewer Feedback:

AccessBlade: Yeah, I always enjoy other characters that are similar to mine, but this one is titled specifically "7" with the same background info and another project that was still alive, this that and the other thing. And the writer was previously on my fav's list for the original story of project seven. What I think happened is she removed herself from the favs list and waited a couple of months to write her story, hoping I wouldn't see it or I'd forget the name. It just seemed odd to me. I don't want people to think that I'm going to call out every story with a genetically modified character, because that would be insane, but this was totally a blatant rip off of my OC. I like your idea tho! =D

FORD B: Yeah, the new computer is Vista, so it's kinda new to me, but it's awesome! It has a full sized keyboard! I've got a number pad! Imagine! A number pad on a laptop! I was totally excited about it, now I'm just thinking that I have to make this one last longer than the last two... Which will be hard since I use it every day... Thanks for your continuing support on my story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I OWN CAT, and Five, and Rotten and any OC that you'll see on here that's not normally associated with Transformers the shows or the movies. Thank you and good night!

--

Giving most of the medical staff a much needed time for relaxing, Wheeljack had offered to take the night shift. It wasn't often that he was given this power, being that he had his little known ability to make things explode or catch fire. However, he promised to only observe and inform them if anything were to go wrong.

Walking into the medical bay, Wheeljack looked over to the small bed that they had moved Cat to, and saw that the bed was vacant. This didn't alarm him, however. He was already warned, by Ratchet, that the girl would get up and move around, and to keep a close optic on her. Wheeljack, however, gave Cat ample room to do as she pleased, as long as she stayed in the med bay. Then again, the CMO would probably take off his cranial unit if he found out that Jack had lost her.

Looking around the area, Wheeljack noticed the technicians and the on-staff nurses carrying their clipboards and restocking the medical supply cabinets.

"Excuse me," Wheeljack bent down to a nurse as she walked across his path.

The woman stopped and looked up to the scientist with a weary look upon her face. She, along with most, had spent a number of extra hours just to cover the shifts that had to work extra time to look after Cat.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Have you seen Catherine?" Jack asked.

"Oh her?" she looked to the other side of the medical bay and pointed towards the large bed that Bumblebee had been laying on, "Last time I saw her she was sitting next to that one."

Wheeljack stood and looked across the med bay and noticed only the stasis form of Bumblebee. He looked down to the nurse and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she nodded and continued on with her original work.

Wheeljack walked over to Bumblebee, checking on his own vitals and making sure that the equipment around him was all functioning. As he began to turn and leave, his optics caught sight of something on the other side of the smaller mech. Walking to the other side of the table, Wheeljack felt a little relief as he noticed the sleeping form of Cat. Her back was hugging Bumblebee's side, using her left arm to keep her head propped up like a pillow normally would. Her face was emotionless as she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Wheeljack smiled down at her. At least, now, Ratchet wouldn't throw something at him for losing her. Walking away for a moment, Wheeljack managed to find an extra pillow and blanket. He brought it back and, gently, moved Cat so that he could set a pillow under her head, and laid the blanket over her.

'She must feel so guilty for having injured Bumblebee,' he thought remorsefully.

It was only a good thing that Ratchet had left the yellow mech in stasis, just in case he rolled over and accidentally squashed her. Jack shook the thought from his mind and began to turn away.

"Wheeljack?" the sound of Bumblebee's vocalizer suddenly spoke in a whisper.

The scientist turned and noticed the bright optics of the seeker staring up at him, "Bumblebee," he said in a quizzical manner, "you're supposed to be in stasis." He looked over and noticed that the machine controlling the stasis controls had accidentally been knocked.... He must have hit it a moment ago...

"What happened?" Bumblebee asked.

"You were nearly offlined by one of Cats surges," Wheeljack whispered back.

"Cat... Cat!" Bumblebee shifted to move as his memory circuits suddenly brought back the events of the past two days.

Wheeljack brought a finger to the mask that covered his mouth, "Sh. It's all right," he pointed down to the smaller mech's side, "She's been awake for most of the day."

Bumblebee looked down to the side that Wheeljack had motioned to and saw Cat as she stirred in her sleep, "She's all right?"

Wheeljack nodded, "The fever that has kept her ill finally broke and hasn't returned. The human medical officers believe that she will be fine."

Bumblebee looked up to his friend and noticed the strange look in his optics, "But..." he prompted.

Wheeljacked looked back to the young seeker and smirked beneath his faceplate mask, "Either you know Cat very well, or I gave too much information away without knowing it."

Bumblebee didn't bother smiling back. Only the worried expression seemed to remain.

"After we were informed that she had awakened, Ratchet, Optimus and I were listening to what she had to say. Apparently there is a lot more going on than we could have ever expected."

--

-Flashback-

"Yeah... It was a piece of the Allspark that fused into me, which provided the energy I needed to complete the transmutation," Cat nodded, "Five tried to tell me about it when we had that whole disaster after the new guys arrived, but I didn't understand what it was that she was trying to tell me..." she lowered her head, "But now I do..."

"Five told you this?" Optimus asked.

"No... Not exactly..." Cat's eyes softened, "But I do know one thing for sure. I need to find Five and have a little chat with her..."

"How do you propose that you do that?" Wheeljack asked in a curious tone, "I was under the impression that your sister was offline?"

Ratchet raised an eye ridge, "She is."

"Right... So there's only one way for me to find her," Cat commented, "I have to die..."

"And just how did you come up with this little theory of yours?!" Ratchet asked, crossing his arms and glaring down at the girl. He, and the rest of the medical crew had fought a dilligent battle with the illness that had nearly killed her, and frankly this new idea of hers didn't sit well with him.

"...The Allspark told me..." Cat kept her head lowered, not wanting to look into the face of of the ones around her.

Silence overtook the group. The Allspark? But how?

"Cat," she looked up into the face of Optimus as he spoke softly to her, "The Allspark was destroyed. Is there any way that you could have just dreamt this?"

Cat shook her head, "No. It revealed a lot of things to me that seemed to make sense. It knew about things that, " she coughed, "Er... things that you guys don't know about. Things that only I would know. That and things that I didn't know, like the whole Mission City mess."

"And it told you that you have to be offlined in order to speak with your sister?" Wheeljack asked in a curious tone.

"Sort of, yeah. It said that the power I hold causes shifts of my soul. When my emotions get the best of me, the power takes over, causing those surges," Cat explained.

"Of course!" Ratchet suddenly realized, "It's the energy from the Allspark that you're emitting! I should have realized that long ago!" he berated himself.

"Yeah... But it wasn't the Allspark that was purposefully using it's power. It was Five," she said, nearly in a whisper.

The three looked down on her with confused looks on their faces.

"Five is... controlling you?" Wheeljack asked.

"Well no, not controlling me. But somehow she's using Alchemy and forcing the power of the Allspark out of me when she thinks it's needed... She's tried to protect me."

"And she nearly killed Bumblebee and the rest of us on other occassions by doing it," Ratchet added.

Cat's facial expression turned from confident to guilt in a split second. It was bad enough that she felt bad for all the other times that she caused so much chaos at the Dam that she hadn't meant to cause. However she felt even worse for almost killing one of her most trusted friends. It wasn't something that she took as lightly as she was letting on.

"Well," Cat replied, "She always did had a way with you guys, didn't she?"

"Yes," Optimus agreed thinking back to having been driven by Five, "She certainly did..."

"I'm not defending what she's done... I'm just telling you what's been happening... I never could control Five, and if you want proof, this is most certainly it. In order for these surges to stop happening so randomly, I need to speak with her. And, according the Allspark, I have to be close to death or dead. In fact, "Cat thought back, "the only way that the Allspark could speak to me was the same way."

"Your illness," Wheeljack suddenly understood.

"Right. I, probably, would have been able to fight off a small thing like a flu without a problem, but I became so worried that I would die off the same way I nearly did last year, that my emotional state caused that shift to take place, and the Allspark was able to use it to speak to me... Which is what I think happened here," she looked back to Bumblebee as he 'slept' in stasis.

**-Flashback within a Flashback-**

"So you're saying that whenever I get mad, or upset in general, I'll sink into a state where my soul bounces from one side to another?" Cat asked, feeling somewhat worried that she may cause harm unintentionally just by being sad, or angry.

**"I believe you might be able to control this, eventually. But until you learn how to do this, yes. You will be a danger to those around you, more specifically any Cybertronian,"** it replied.

Cat felt her heart hit the pit of her stomach... The Allspark had just confirmed what she feared...

"So if Five can only talk to me while I'm near death.... How are _you_ able to speak to me now?" Cat asked.

**"You are within another shift,"** the Allspark replied simply.

"How? I remember feeling cold and shaky, so I went to bed and fell asleep," she thought aloud.

**"Do you not remember feeling worried over being ill?"** it asked.

"Worried about being... Wait... I'm sick?" Cat asked.

**"Yes. You are unconscious from an illness, and have been for nearly three, full Earth cycles. Our conversation has only seemed to last a few moments, but we have been speaking for quite a while."**

Cat was horrified. She could feel her heart begin to pound in her chest, her breathing took a small hitch. No... It had to have been wrong... There was no way...

"You... You mean I've been in a coma or something?" she asked.

**"I suppose you could call it that. Your soul is, right now, existing on the plain between life and death. You are only, just barely, alive."**

"What," she stopped, trying to process everything she had been told, "What would it take to bring me back?"

**"Because you have been on this plain of existence for so long, you are lingering in place. Another shift would be the only way to resume life back on Earth."**

"No... No, you're wrong!" Cat began to panic. Was this true? Was she actually dead? Did the Autobots know about all of this? If all of this was, indeed, the truth, then she needed to get back to her life as soon as possible.

**"You need to stay calm, there are still many things that I must discuss with you!"**

"Discuss?!" Cat scoffed, "How many more days will it take?! No, no I've got to get back! I've got to get back now!"

The white light that surrounded Cat changed into a bright mauve, the air around her begging to feel thin and cold. At this point, something felt as though a cold hand had taken ahold around Cat's throat as she struggled against it. The cold "fingers" enclosed around the back of her neck.

**"You must -"** the voice of the Allspark faded into the background.

Cat fell to the ground, fighting against the hold that the untouchable ''hand" had on her. She tried to grasp at it, but felt only air. She coughed, trying to pull away, however she was pulled back up to her feet, being dragged in the direction of a black void that seemed to be pulling her in.

"ith.. op..." she tried to yell out to the Allspark, but to no avail.

The "hand" grasped her neck tighter, taking her breath completely away as she was picked up and brought to the front of the void. Kicking and fighting against the hold on her, Cat was reeled back and suddenly thrown into the depths of the void. She screeched a blood curdling scream as she was sucked into the void, her vision fading into nothing.

(in the med bay)

Waking slowly, Cat could hear familiar voices. They were speaking calmly as if they weren't at all mindful of her being aware of them. That was until she began moving her head a little and groaning. Her vision caught sight of something large and yellow leaning over her. Who was it?

"Cat?" Bumblebee leaned closer to her, "Can you hear me?"

She felt a sudden warm touch of metal to her face as she pulled away from it, unsure of who or what it was. She brought her left hand up to bat at it, trying to shoo it away from her face. She rolled her eyes as she tried to readjust her vision.

"She's waking up!" Sideswipe announced.

Cat realized who the voices belonged to just before she felt herself being pulled up into a sitting position, being held. Her eyes fluttered open just a hair more before they started looking around, catching sight of Bumblebee's smiling hologram. It was just then that she realized the pain and anguish had followed her from the unconsciousness and began to swell within her. The searing burn of emotions swirled in her chest and stomach as she tried to fight against it.

'No,' she thought, 'No this can't happen! They'll be killed!' She looked to the hologram with remorse. She could barely bring herself to think, let alone try and speak to warn them, 'Run, fools! Run before I hurt you!'

The hologram turned from smiling into worry as she could only beg for him to take cover with her own eyes.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked.

Cat's mouth forced into making a shape for words, failing miserably.

'I don't want to hurt you Bee... Please listen to me!'

"What?" he asked. Cat could tell that even though he understood very little of what she was trying to say, he understood that she was trying to warn him.

'Why can't I speak?! Why can't you understand me?!'

"R..ru...r..r.." she whispered.

"What's she saying?" Sideswipe asked.

"I'm not sure," Bee replied.

"R..ru..r..run!" she managed.

"Run? Run from what?" Sideswipe asked, confused.

"I don't understand either..." Bumblebee answered.

"Where the slag is Sunny and Ratchet?! And what's going on?" Sideswipe looked frustrated.

Cat felt the swell of the surge begin to overtake her as she let out a small cry just before she felt the wave release from her body. It ended as soon as it began. She felt her body drop to the table, Bumblebee's hologram disappearing as well as the two mechs larger forms.

"D...Damn..." she fell into unconsciousness once more as the light faded into a black nothing.

**-Out of Cat's Flashback-**

"I pieced together what happened I just... I wasn't sure how to make sense of it all..." Cat explained, "And there's another part that you guys need to know..."

"Go on," Optimus encouraged Cat to tell them everything that was necessary.

Cat looked directly to Optimus and said, "You may not know it, but you're carrying part of the Allspark's power too. By having that fragment, you're keeping its power with you."

The other two mechs looked directly to Optimus in surprise.

"But it was destroyed! How could it possibly carry any sort of power?" Ratchet asked.

"I think you'll find that it has some residual energy to it. The Allspark may be destroyed, but its power is thriving... That's part of what it was trying to tell me," Cat commented.

"Now that I think of it, "Ratchet interjected, "I've never had a chance to examine that fragment of yours, Optimus."

Optimus opened a spot in his chest compartment, pulling out and revealing the jagged piece of metal that he had kept with him since the battle with Megatron. He looked it over just before handing it to the medic.

"Anything else?" Wheeljack thought that maybe this wasn't the end to Cat revealing this new information.

"Yeah... There's two more who have a portion of the Allspark's power..."

"Who?" Optimus asked.

Cat sighed. Was it a good idea to tell them? Was the Allspark telling her the right information, or was it all a misleading dream? Whatever it was she knew that, ultimately, she would regret at least not telling them what she knew.

Looking up to the three Autobots one by one, she replied, "Sam... and Megatron..."

-End Flashback-

--

"Megatron?!" Bumblebee's optics flashed white for a split second with the realization of what Wheeljack had just explained.

"Shh," Jack reminded the younger mech that Cat was still asleep, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Bumblebee looked down to Cat, from his sitting position, as she stirred in her sleep again, rolling away from him and pulling the blanket around herself more firmly. He looked back up to Wheeljack and asked, "But Sam... How has he been affected?"

"Cat explained that when he used the Allspark against Megatron, there was small amount of energy that was drawn into his own body. It isn't enough to do any damage to him, or produce the same effects that the energy Cat holds, but it was enough to affect him in a different way," Wheeljack continued in a whisper.

Bumblebee picked Cat up, carefully, and cradled her in his palm before looking back to Jack, "He was... affected?"

Wheeljack nodded, "Apparently even more so lately."

--

-Explanation-

Jazz pulled into the driveway of the Witwicky home just as Sam closed the door to Judy's buick.

"Sammy!" Jazz yelled out to the young human.

Sam looked up to see the Solstice pulling into the driveway. The shimmer of the gray sports car gave Sam a small smile on his face.

"Hey, Jazz," he greeted, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Bumblebee's got some stuff to do for a few days so I'm here to -" And that's when Jazz noticed it, "Sam, ya look exhausted."

The smile faded from the teens face, "Yeah well... I just haven't been getting much sleep... You know, school and all," he lied.

Jazz was quiet for a second before realizing that eveything Mikaela had told him was unrefutable.

The dark skinned, muscular hologram appeared next to Sam and towered over him, "What's been goin' on Sam?" he crossed his arms.

Sam frowned and shook his head, "Nothing... Why would something be wrong?"

"Ya look terrible, and I'm not totally satisfied that you're tellin' me the truth. So what's goin' on?" he asked.

Sam looked into the strangely blue eyes of Jazz's hologram and said, "I've just..." the eyes told Sam that he already knew that anything he said besides the truth wouldn't be accepted.

"What's it matter, anyway?" Sam growled and shoved past the hologram.

"The hell you mean, 'what's it matter'? Sam if you're havin' problems you need to tell someone," Jazz followed the boy into the house.

"Is that you, Sam?" Judy walked into the kitchen, "I'm doing colors for the laundry so if you-" she stopped when she saw the hologram looking at Sam intently, "Oh, hello um... Blues?"

Sam rolled his eyes while Jazz only smiled sweetly.

"It's Jazz, mom..." Sam grumbled as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh, right. Hello Jazz," Judy smiled.

Jazz looked to Judy and said, "Good ta see ya," just before he made his way through the house, following the teenager.

Before Sam could slam his bedroom door on the hologram, Jazz caught the door and held it in place, "Mikaela told me about your dreams!"

Sam stopped trying to shut and lock the door when he heard this. He waited a moment before sighing and said, "She did, did she?"

"Yeah. She told me that you've been havin' dreams about Megatron," Jazz added.

Sam shook his head and opened the door, "She shouldn't have told you. I'm perfectly capable of-"

"Takin' care of it yourself? Is that why you've been callin' and askin' for Cat?" Jazz interrupted.

Sam glared back at the hologram, "I suppose Mikaela told you that too, huh?"

"I know why you're callin' Cat. You think that because of the problems she's had, she might be able to help ya," Jazz explained.

"Maybe... But she's never called me back," he turned away and sat down in the chair in front of his computer, "What's going on, anyway? Why hasn't Cat answered? And why did Bumblebee just suddenly take off to the Dam?"

Jazz was almost about to give him the same lie that he had to tell Mikaela, but he sighed. He already knew where that got him...

"All right.. Optimus and the others didn't wanna scare you kids, but I'm tired of havin' you guys mad at me..." Jazz sat down across from Sam on his bed and looked over to the teen.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"Cat's been... Well she's been sick," the hologram started.

"Sick? Like the flu, sick, or like our fears about her immune system have come true and she's dying, sick?" Sam asked, suddenly finding himself forgiving Cat for not picking up when he called her.

"It's been hard to tell. Ya see a few days ago, she went out to Lake Mead and found herself having to save a human from drowning. It was a bit of a cold day, so she had to ride her bike back to the Dam soaked in the colder temperatures. She thought she was fine, but overnight she took a turn for the worse and she's been in the med bay in a coma ever since."

Sam's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it... After everything that she had lived through, was it truly fate that she would succumb to a flu virus?

"Why didn't you guys just tell us?" Sam asked.

"We didn't wanna scare ya with everything else ya been through. It was perfectly logical to believe that Cat could make it through," Jazz replied.

"And Bumblebee?" the teen gave a stern look.

"He came out to check in on her but... Well, there was a bit of an accident. He's fine, but it'll take a few days for him to be repaired."

"What kind of accident?" Sam felt even more guilty for being upset at his yellow friend.

"Cat woke up early this morning, but when she did, she caused another surge, and it did quite a bit of damage to him. Ratchet's gonna fix him up like new, though," the hologram explained softly.

"So she's... she's awake now?" Sam asked.

Jazz smiled, "Well she is now. I talked to Ratchet a little while ago. She'll be all right, don't ya worry."

Sam sighed, "Good."

"Now," Jazz decided, "We've gotten that outta the way, now I need to know when these dreams about Megatron started. Maybe we can figure out what's goin' on."

Sam's eyes wandered as he went deep in thought, "They started the day before Cat left after she stayed here for the holidays, I guess."

"The day before Cat left, huh?" Jazz thought aloud.

--

"It turns out that the argument the children had with Cat somehow caused a reaction with the residual energy in Sam. Ratchet and Prowl went out the Tranquility to make sure that nothing else happened to him. Ratchet believes that giving Sam a sedative for a few nights will help relieve the active energy. In a few days, he should be able to sleep without the aid of sedatives. He'll be fine," Wheeljack finished his story.

Bumblebee was watching Cat sleep in his hands, not being able to help but feel overwhelmed.

"I knew something was wrong with Sam but I chose not to bother him about it... He must have felt abandoned even more so when I left..." Bumblebee whispered.

"I'm sure he and Mikaela understand now. Jazz managed to get the children to talk to each other again, so I believe everything has been settled," Jack calmed his friend.

Just then, the medical bay door opened and the smiling face of Sideswipe walked in.

"Hey, you're up!" He waved to Bumblebee as he walked towards them.

Bumblebee and Wheeljack both "Shh'd" the red mech and pointed to the sleeping Cat in Bumblebee's hand.

"Oh, sorry. Finally got her to sleep, huh?" Sides walked over to the three being as quiet with his footsteps as possible.

"Well, er... Actually I cheated," one of the on staff doctors stepped forward.

"Cheated?" Sideswipe asked, the others staring down at him as well, "How could you have done _that_?"

The blond haired doctor stepped to the group, putting down his clipboard on a nearby medical cart. He looked up to the three and smirked, "Ratchet asked me to see if I could trick her into taking a sedative, but after having watched her the last few times that she's been in here, I knew that tricking her would be a lot harder to do that he thought it would be. So when she asked for a soda, I slipped some muscle relaxers in the drink. The sedatives would have left a taste, but the muscle relaxers create the same effect of drowziness, and it would be hardly noticable, so I let a couple of pills dissolve in the drink before I gave it to her."

"You drugged her?!" Sideswipe was somewhat impressed with the doctors initiative.

"Sort of," he smirked once more, "She wouldn't have slept, otherwise. And the deeper the sleep, the less chance she'll dream."

Bumblebee looked down to Cat, never once letting a smile come close to passing over his faceplates.

"I know what you're thinking," Sideswipe smirked, Bumblebee and Wheeljack looking to the twin, "Cat's in the med bay after causing trouble, all of us are running around like mad-mechs, and the kids in Tranquility are trying to hang on to everything that we're doing," he laughed, "What's new, right?"

Bee and Jack both smiled.

"What's new, indeed," Jack replied with his own chuckle.

--

Chapter Teaser!

Mikaela was getting herself ready to be picked up by Sam and Bumblebee so they could head to the Dam for the weekend. It had been a while since they'd visited everyone, and it was high time that they got a start on it. She was finishing fixing her hair when the cell phone on the edge of her bathroom sink vibrated and flashed. She looked down and picked up the device, looking to see who was calling.

"Cat?" Mikaela opened the phone and answered, "Hey, Cat! We're not on our way just yet so-"

"Mikaela!" Cat's voice sounded rushed.

"Everything okay?" Mikaela asked, suspicious.

"Uh.. That depends... I thought I'd call to get your advice on something..." Cat answered, Mikaela hearing cars honking and tires squealing in the background.

"What's going on?" the teen asked.

"Oh, same old thing, I guess... You got a minute?" Cat asked.

"Always," Mikaela thought that maybe her friend was in trouble with the Autobots for something, once again.

"You remember that guy I told you about?"

Mikaela thought for a moment but drew a blank, "You told me about a guy?" she smirked, "When did _you_ start dating?"

"No, no... I'm talking about the guy from Christmas Eve."

Mikaela stopped brushing her hair out, her eyes suddenly getting wide in shock, "Yeah? What about him?"

"Well... I went to go pick up Christine today, and the kid was there..."

Mikaela dropped her hairbrush and walked from the bathroom into her bedroom, looking out the window to see if Sam had pulled up yet, "What did you do?"


	28. Day after Valentines

Hey guys! Hope that this is the update that you've all been waiting for, I know _I_ have been! Let me know what you think! Reviews have become scarce for this fic and I have to wonder why... Let me know if you like/dislike Soul Recon one way or the other, I know how to take constructive criticism!

AccessBlade: Oh, absolutely! As you know, I'm a big fan of those sorts of fics *coughprojectsevencough* But every now and then you come across one that seems a little too... familiar... But let me know when you get yours up! Sounds like a great one!

FORD B: Thanks! ^_^ I hope I keep continuing to surprise and impress my readers!

I haven't gotten any portraits of Cat up yet, school and work are still keeping me pretty busy, I've barely got time to write! But to visit my Deviant Art account, check out the link in my profile.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I own Cat, Five, Rotten and basically any other OC mentioned that isn't normally associated with anything "transformers"

--

**Saturday, February 15th, 2008**

Las Vegas Nevada was a normal, bustling day. The widened streets were filled with cars from bumper to bumper, the tourists were flocking to famous stores for gifts and treats; it was your average Saturday in Vegas. The temperatures were at a cool seventy degrees, which was warm in February, even for the southwestern town. Not that anyone minded; it was a bit of a reprieve from the cooler days that they had lately. Not too far north off of the strip was a small, well known body shop. Normally they were buzzing with business, but today everyone was spending most of their hours visiting the hotels and sights of Vegas. However, a well pronounced Dodge Viper pulled into the parking lot, it's black, glossy paint gleaming in the sunlight of noon time. The mechanics could only stop and stare with bright eyes as the sports car passed several bay doors and stopped at the front desk entrance.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait? I mean, it's not a problem. I can be a little late for my shift," the hologram of Bluestreak asked from the driver's seat.

"Don't worry about it Blue. They said it was done, I asked them a thousand times over. All I have to do is go in to pay for the work, get the keys and I'll practically be right behind you in Christine," Cat smirked.

Bluestreak's car form nearly shivered, "Stop calling it that! It's bad enough what you put us through on Halloween, you don't need to name it!"

Cat laughed. Bluestreak seemed to be the only one that grimaced every time she called the fifty-eight Plymouth "Christine". The other Autobots that had been fooled merely glared at her with disdain. She promised the mechs that she'd never let them live it down, and she kept to her word.

"You should really learn to lighten up, Blue," Cat opened the passenger door and shut it, taking the time to look through the open window at the blue-eyed brown haired form of Bluestreak, "Just tell the guys that me and "Christine" won't be too much longer behind you, okay?"

Bluestreak's hologram rolled it's azure eyes and replied, "All right. Give us a call, though, if something goes wrong."

"See you later, buddy!" Cat waved as the Viper pulled out of the parking lot and set back towards the interstate.

Cat turned towards the body shop and looked it over. After it was made clear that she would be needing something on four wheels for the winter months, Cat had decided to send her Plymouth in to be revamped by a professional body shop. She walked up to the door and opened it, immediately feeling sickened by the smell of tires and cigar smoke. Well, at least, somewhat professional...

As Cat walked in, she stopped, feeling the stares of everyone in the room. There were two rugged-looking men at the counter, a young man about her age, and a family of six in the waiting room. They were all crammed in like sardines in the small waiting area. Luckily for Cat, all she had to do was claim her vehicle and be on her way back to the Dam in the newly polished up Plymouth, formally named "Christine". Cat brushed off the stares as she went straight to the desk. Both of the men standing there were dirty and unshaven; grease practically covering them from head to toe in their blue work suits.

"Help ya?" one of them asked.

"Yeah. I'm here to pick up my Plymouth," Cat replied.

"Name?" he asked.

"Catherine Andrews," Cat was a bit surprised that they hadn't recognized her just by the sound of her voice since she'd called them on so many occassions.

The man eyed her carefully, "You own that piece of work?"

Cat nodded, "Is there a problem?" Surely, after having called six times a day, they weren't going to tell her that it wasn't actually done yet. She'd called to confirm that it was ready to be picked up almost two days ago.

It took a second of another once-over of Cat before the man replied, "Nah... Guess I shouldn't be too suprised by some car owners after having worked here for so long," he went to his computer, looking up the information to print on her receipt for payment.

Cat actually smirked this time after such a comment. The great thing about Las Vegas, she learned, was that there were so many strange people. There were constant shows and tourists that would come to visit the convention center. So Vegas, being the way it was, helped her fit right in. As she stood in waiting a horn began blairing outside. She turned to see the boy about her age get up and look out the glass pane of the door with a hopeful glance.

"All right!" the boy said in relief as he opened the door and exited. Cat mere shook her head as she turned back to the desk. Beginning to get annoyed, she was about to ask what was taking him so long when she felt a tug at her denim jeans. Looking to the left of her, and down, she saw a little blond-headed girl with green eyes staring up at her with a smile. Cat grimaced; oh how much she disliked children... She didn't know why, exactly. She just knew that aftering having to save the small girl in Lake Meade, and the trouble that it caused afterwards, made her believe that all children were ill-behaved and unproperly trained by their parents.

The girl looked up to her with a glowing smile, "Hey lady," she pointed up, "Candy?"

Cat frowned, "I don't have any candy..."

The small child also frowned, still pointing up, "Candy?"

"I don't have anything," Cat griped, already annoyed.

The child stomped a foot and pointed up towards the counter. Cat looked over and saw a bowl of caramel hard candies sitting out for customers. Cat looked back down to the kid and asked, "What do I look like, your mom? Go ask someone else to give you candy."

"It's all right," a woman said from across the small waiting room, "She can have another piece. She gets upset and screams if she doesn't get any after a while, and I'd rather her be quiet and eating the candy than yelling in my ear for an hour..."

Cat looked over to the couple, the mother holding a small infant, while her husband sat reading a car magazine. their two younger sons were running about, chasing each other and knocking one another down, wrestling on the cold, concrete floor. Cat looked back up to the mother and asked, "How many pieces have _they_ had?"

The mother adjusted the infant as it started to cry, putting it's head to her shoulder and tapping it, lightly, on the back, "I don't remember, I've lost count..."

Cat rolled her eyes and, regrettably, picked up a piece of the caramel candy and bending down to give it to the child.

"Dank you!" the girl smiled happily as she ran back to her seat, eating the candy quietly.

After having watched the child, Cat heard the entrance door open, once again, this time she heard a familiar voice talking.

"Just hang on! I need to go to the restroom and I'll be right back!" wait... That voice... It couldn't have been...

Cat swung around and watched with wide eyes as the older boy walked in the door. She, quickly, turned back around, hoping that she wasn't noticed.

"Come on, Evan! I gotta get back to work or I'll be fired!" the other voice yelled from outside.

"Think of it this way," Evan yelled back, "you'll just have to look for job number eight this year!" Cat heard the boy chuckle as the door closed behind him.

Evan walked up to the desk, Cat making sure to keep her back to him. Her heart raced as she could feel his footsteps approach closer to her at the front desk.

"Do you have a bathroom in here?" Evan asked.

"Payin' customers only," the man didn't even look away from the computer screen as he continued to type up Cat's receipt.

"My buddy is getting his car fixed here. Does that count?" he asked.

The old man shoved a toothpick in his mouth and sighed, "Fine, " he pointed to the left of him towards the shop, "First door on the left."

"Thanks," Evan nodded as he stepped out into the shop and went to find the bathroom.

-That's the kid from Christmas Eve!- Cat thought to herself -What the hell is _he_ doing here?!-

"Can you hurry this along?" Cat griped, "My friends are expecting me to be back sooner rather than later."

"Just hold your horses, ma'am," his tar-tainted voice reasoned.

Of course Cat couldn't just tell the guy that she wanted to leave because of the uncomfortable situation that she had just been put in. Even the Autobots had no idea that she had some sort of past acquaintence with the boy. She tapped her fingernails against the desk and waited. It was only a few seconds later that she heard the sweet roar of Christine, as it was pulled around to the front of the shop. Just as the mechanic opened the door to her car and pulled the paper and plastic from the floorboards and the seats, she was presented with a receipt.

"And your amount comes to-" the man started.

"Who cares?! Just take my card and run it through already!" Cat demanded as she threw her debit card down on the desk.

The man rolled his eyes at Cat. Apparently he wasn't as easily intimidated as some of the other humans Cat had dealt with. She grit her teeth and waited for the card to be run through. Before the slip of paper that needed to be signed was given to her, Cat's sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of the internal plumbing rush with water. It was the sign that meant she was running out of time.

"Here ya go," the man presented her with the receipt, Cat quickly signing it and handing it back, receiving her paperwork.

"Keys?" Cat asked, one foot ready to start the dash towards the front door as she extended a hand in waiting.

"Oh, right," the grease-ball grunted as he shifted around in his seat, "Hey, Julio! Where's the keys to the Plymouth?!"

Another mechanic appeared in the doorway of the office, searching his pockets for the car he had just pulled up into the parking space, "Uh..." he searched every pocket twice, causing Cat to nearly run over and beat him over the head. He finally found the keys and threw them to the desk clerk, however Cat caught them just before he could.

The door to the bathroom opened and that was all Cat needed to make her quick exit. She ran out into the parking lot and hopped into the newly refurbished Christine, not having the chance to take in the beauty of her vehicle. Cat shoved the key into the ignition, about to turn it when she saw the boy exit the shop. She gasped as she ducked down below the seat, only peeking from underneath the passenger side window to watch him get into his Corsica and leave the parking lot.

Cat breathed a sigh of relief until she thought of something. Didn't Bumblebee say that the kid was from Boulder City? What was he doing in a shop in Vegas? Cat made a split second decision. She started Christine's engine up, the motor roaring to life as she reversed out of the parking lot, the tires squealing. She threw the shifter into drive and burned rubber out of the parking lot. She picked her cell phone out of her pocket and opened it quickly, dialing a familiar number.

--

Mikaela was getting herself ready to be picked up by Sam and Bumblebee so they could head to the Dam for the weekend. It had been a while since they'd visited everyone, and it was high time that they got a start on it. She was finishing fixing her hair when the cell phone on the edge of her bathroom sink vibrated and flashed. She looked down and picked up the device, looking to see who was calling.

Mikaela opened the phone and answered, "Hey, Cat! We're not on our way just yet so-"

"Mikaela!" Cat's voice sounded rushed.

The teen noticed the urgency in Cat's voice, "Everything okay?" she asked, suspicious.

"Uh.. That depends..." Cat answered, Mikaela hearing cars honking and tires squealing in the background.

"What's going on?" the teen asked.

"Oh, same old thing, I guess... You got a minute?" Cat asked.

"Always," Mikaela thought that maybe her friend was in trouble with the Autobots for something, once again.

"You remember that guy I told you about?"

Mikaela thought for a moment but drew a blank, "You told me about a guy?" she smirked, "When did _you_ start dating?"

"No, no... I'm talking about the guy from Christmas Eve."

Mikaela stopped brushing her hair out, her eyes suddenly getting wide in shock, "Yeah? What about him?"

"Well... I went to go pick up Christine today, and the kid was there..."

Mikaela dropped her hairbrush and walked from the bathroom into her bedroom, looking out the window to see if Sam had pulled up yet, "Are you kidding?! What did you do?"

"... Hid...." Cat answered.

Mikaela rolled her eyes, "You didn't say anything?"

"Of course not! What was I going to say? 'Oh hey there! Good to see that you weren't scarred for life by that Decepticon!' I don't think so..."

"Okay so.. You hid from him and he didn't see you? So what's the problem?" Mikaela asked.

"Well... I'm following him..." Cat started to think that maybe it wasn't such a great idea.

"...You know in some places that's considered _stalking_..." Mikaela frowned.

Cat whined, "I just want to see what he's doing. You never know what he's really all about; especially since Barricade went after him."

"Did you call-"

"NO... But I wanted to call and let you guys know that I probably won't be back to the Dam until late tonight," Cat explained.

"I don't like this Cat. You need to stop hiding this secret and tell the Autobots about it," Mikaela berated her friend.

"At some point, sure, I'll tell them. But this is about my past, not theirs. If I think it's becoming too much for me, I'll tell them. Just let me deal with my own problems, okay?" Cat replied. She knew that Mikaela meant well, being worried, but she didn't want to bring too many more people into this than there had to be.

"All right... Just don't get in over your head on this, okay?" Mikaela pleaded. Every time Cat gets involved in something unknown, Mikaela is reminded of the incident at the Dam after they had found the Allspark and Cat had demanded that she was going to prevent Megatron from getting past her and Five... And she knew how well that worked out...

"It's just one little human, what harm could he possibly do?" Cat asked.

"Cat.." Mikaela warned.

"All right, all right, I'll be careful. See you later," Cat finished.

"Okay, bye," Mikaela hung up.

As the teen sat her phone back down she couldn't help but sigh and think to herself 'This feels like one of those things that doesn't end well...'

--

Cat hung up her cell phone and was about to throw it across the seats so she could continue to drive when she thought of something. 'I'd better call one of the guys so they won't come looking for me.'

She re-opened her cell phone and thought for a second. Which one would she call, and what would be her excuse? It would have to be someone that would believe whatever she said... Bluestreak could be easy to fool sometimes. But he was also a very well trained sniper, and was good at noticing things. No, she'd need to talk to someone who wasn't going to be able to see past her lie... But who?

--

The human medical staff were all gathered at the Dam for a yearly meeting. It required all doctors, nurses and technicians to be available during the day hours, even the night crew. And, of course, the night crew consisted of Gina Murray and her staff. In the midde of the afternoon, the meeting was taking a recess, allowing Gina and a few others to head towards the lounge to grab some refreshments. In the lounge, as well, were some of the Autobots taking a break from their own daily duties. Among the Autobot crew were the twins and Ironhide. The three were watching television on their own large, flat screen.

Gina walked into the lounge with a distraught look on her face. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refridgerator, tucking two quarters into the donation tin. She walked back out into the lounge and sat down at one of the tables, sipping on the ice cold water and looking over the new sheet of rules for the med lab.

Up to this point, Sideswipe hadn't been paying attention to anything except the program that they were watching, when he received a hard poke in his side.

"The slag was that for?!" Sideswipe complained to his smirking twin.

"Your _girlfriend_ just walked in," the bright yellow Autobot whispered, pointing towards the human side of the lounge.

The confused Sideswipe looked over to where Sunny was pointing and saw the lone doctor sitting at the table. Frowning, Sideswipe looked back to Sunny and replied, "She is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"Then why can't you speak right when she's around?" Sunny continued to pester his brother.

"Dude, stop," Sideswipe gave his twin a shove.

"Fine, fine," Sunstreaker's smirk only grew as he put his hands up in defeat, going back to watch the television program. At this point, Ironhide wasn't paying any attention to the two, trying only to focus on not being bothered by them.

Sideswipe sat for a moment and contemplated; wondering what the night shift doctor was doing there in the middle of the day. He looked over to see that she was still observing whatever it was that she was reading, and decided to see what was going on. Getting up, Sideswipe felt a cold chill on his back, knowing full well that Sunny was mocking him behind his back with a large grin.

Sideswipe did a quick passer-by, watching to see if Gina happened to notice his presence. As he walked behind her, he noticed that she slightly glanced his way for only a few seconds before returning to her packet of criteria. He, then, turned back around as if he were going to return to his seat, but instead he stopped to make small talk.

"Oh, uh... H-hey Doctor Murray," he started, looking over to where Sunny was sitting and noticing his brother eyeing the whole situation with quiet snickering. He glared at his twin before hearing the woman respond.

"Hello, Sideswipe," she responded cheerfully.

"I-uh... I see that you're not on your normal shift today," he commented.

Gina sighed and replied, "Yes, I'm afraid we had a meeting today. Which means I get a few hours of overtime and still work my normal shift tonight.."

"Oh... That's... That's too bad," he tried to be empathetic to her situation.

"So, Doc, I was wondering-" he started before she interrupted him.

"Sideswipe, you've been to the medical bay on numerous occassions to not know to call me Gina," she smiled up at him.

"Yeah Sides," Sunny yelled from the other side of the room, "Stop being rude!"

Sideswipe gave his brother an even more impressive glare before turning back to Gina, "Sorry... Gina."

"It's not a problem," Gina smiled sweetly. Sideswipe only stopped for a moment to wonder how it was that this human was able to make his spark burn with anxiety. He's fought hardened Decepticons and never, once, felt as flighty he felt now.... And, for the moment, he was sure that he'd rather be fighting about a hundred Decepticons right now, rather than try and talk to one human femme.

"Listen, Gina, I was wondering if-" Sides began before his internal communications circuitry began alerting him to an incoming transmission. The circuitry automatically recognized that the call was from Cat, "Oh, uh, hold that thought."

'Cat?' Sideswipe answered.

"Hey Sides! Listen, uh, could you let everyone know that I'll be late getting to the Dam tonight?" Cat asked in an overly cheerful tone. It would have been obvious, to the mech, that she was trying to cover up whatever it was that she was doing if it weren't for the fact that his CPU wasn't quite in the right order at the moment.

'Aren't you supposed to be picking up that car with Blue?'

"You mean Christine?" Cat asked in a teasing manner.

Sides sighed and replied, 'Yeah, that one...'

"Yeah, Bluestreak dropped me off, but I decided to take a detour. You know, drive the new wheels around and get a feel for it."

'How late can driving around a car make you?'

"Well... I mean I'm probably going to stop and get something to eat too, and look around Vegas for a while..."

At this point Gina looked to her watch and nearly gasped at the time. She got up from the table, gathering her paperwork and her water bottle, all the while looking up to Sides, "I'm sorry, Sideswipe, but I need to get back to the meeting."

The poor red mech, however, wasn't paying any attention to her as he continued his conversation. Gina looked to Sunstreaker and said, "Could you-"

"Give him the message. Got it," the yellow twin gave the "okay" signal, allowing Gina to walk out of the lounge, disappearing down the hallways.

'You remember that Bumblebee and the kids are coming up for the weekend, right' Sides asked.

"Yeah, I know. I called Mikaela to tell her that I'd probably be late. I figured I'd be back in time to see them anyway," Cat explained.

'All right, I'll tell them.'

"Thanks buddy! See you later!" Cat disconnected the call.

Sideswipe closed his connection and looked down to the table that Gina was sitting at, just now noticing that she was gone. He looked up to Sunny and asked, "Where'd she go?"

"She got tired of waiting for your slow aft to finish your call so she left," the yellow twin cackled with laughter.

Sideswipe looked towards the hallway and vented a sigh, "Figures..."

--

It was already past sunset in Boulder City, and some storm clouds looked as though they were threatening the small town from overhead. Evan had allowed his roommate to borrow his cellular phone, on their way back towards their city, to call his boss and beg for his job. To his unfortunate surprise, the angry manager of the fast food restaurant had already filed his pink slip. Josh begged and pleaded nearly the entire way back home, but to no avail. They pulled back into the apartment complex which was just inside the city limits. The apartment building was old and the foundation was cracking. It was one of the older model buildings that was white brick, built in a square fashion with an outdoor swimming pool in the middle of it. They climbed their way up to the second story apartment and entered their decrepit home.

"Dude, what are we gonna do? The rent's due next week and with the repair bills on my piece of trash, we're not gonna have the money!" Josh complained as he sat down on their ragged, tan couch.

Evan set the keys to his car down on the counter and kicked off his shoes, "What were you doing in Vegas, anyway? I thought you were going to cut down on using up our gas budget?"

"I couldn't help it... Those machines were callin' to me man!" Josh admitted.

Evan shook his head, "One weekend in Vegas and you're hooked... Well no more of that business. We're not even going to afford a loaf of bread at this rate..."

"I'm done with it, I promise!" Josh swore to his friend. It wasn't really an addiction, just something that he intended on doing once a month when he thought he had the extra cash.

Evan sighed and grabbed a small bottle of orange juice from the fridge, "I'll just have to see if Mr. Santiago is willing to extend our rent this month... If nothing else I can see if we can waive our security deposit and use it for this months rent..."

"We're gonna end up in a cardboard box..." Josh put his head in his hands in dismay.

"We'll be fine. Just stay cool and we'll both go to look for a job tomorrow," Evan sat down on the lawn chair across the living room from his friend. It truly was a college kids apartment.

Josh turned to Evan and asked, "How the hell could you have gotten fired anyway? That was our money maker job! At least, then, we had money for food..."

Evan looked down to the floor, "Sorry man. Getting over nearly being killed takes time, and apparently they weren't willing to give me the extra time..."

Josh rolled his eyes, "Right... Come on, even _I_ don't believe your story of a giant robot, and a girl with a metal arm and yellow eye! And I watch cartoons!"

Evan glared across the room at Josh, "I'm the most level-headed friend you've ever had, and you don't believe me?!"

"Giant robot?... Sorry dude," Josh grabbed the television remote and turned to his favorite shows.

Evan sighed, once again, and got up, heading to his room. He slammed the door shut and threw the empty bottle on the clothes ridden floor, kicking it across the room. The bottle hit his closet door and stopped rolling just in front of it, dripping a small droplet of the orange substance onto the floor. Evan sat on his bed and growled. He was usually calm, but this really got to him. Why couldn't he get anyone to believe what happened to him? It was almost as if someone, purposefully, covered up the whole incident! And now, not only did he lose his job, but he was probably going to need to finish off the last of the money that was left to him by his parents to pay one more month's rent so they could survive for a little while longer. By telling Josh that he could talk to their land lord was only a way of trying to calm him... He'd already went to the landlord and asked for an extension on the rent, and was denied. That and he'd already waived the security deposit weeks ago...

Evan stared at the floor to think things over for a moment before his eyes caught sight of the empty orange juice bottle. His attention went from the bottle to the closet door, remembering what was within it. Standing back up, Evan walked over to the storage space and opened the hollow, wooden door. He peeked around inside until he came across it. Pulling the leather jacket from off of its hanger, Evan grasped the the jacket and walked over to his window. He opened the window and rested his elbows on the window sill and looking over the white and black material. The jacket was too small for him to wear, which was supposed to aid him in his story. However, the only reasoning that anyone could come up with was that Evan was simply saved by someone on a motorcycle after his car flipped over, and ran as soon as the paramedics showed up. Still, Evan kept the jacket as a reminder that he saw the right girl... But why did she run from him? Wasn't she happy to see him after so long? He sighed and placed the jacket in a hanging position over the window sill and went to his bed, laying down to think.

"Can't pay the rent... Can't buy food... Can't afford car repairs... What the hell are we going to do?" Evan sighed again.

The room was quiet and calming, causing Evan to begin drifting off to sleep. The sudden sounds of something slipping away suddenly caught Evan's attention. He looked up to the window to see that the jacket had disappeared.

"What the hell?!" Evan dashed from the bed over to the window, his eyes catching a figure in the distance making a getaway with his jacket, "Get back here!"

--

Cat had followed the two humans to their apartment, watching as they walked up to their second story apartment and sat down to have a conversation. Her specialized eye read the heat signatures as they moved within the upper level room. Damn... If she had Prowl or Jazz here, she'd probably be able to listen to their conversation, but even her sensitive hearing couldn't pick up what they were saying... However she could somewhat make out what their lips were saying, but even then, it had been a few months since she'd received training for lip reading in English. She was mainly trained for lip reading in Arabic and Chinese... She knew she should have trained herself on the side...

Cat had left Christine in a crowded parking lot a block away, to keep suspicion from rising. She was hiding in the bed of a large pickup truck, watching the two move about and speak to each other. It was getting dark, so she knew that her spying had to end soon, but she wanted to collect more information before leaving, so she stayed still.

The two boys looked as though they were arguing before the more familiar one got up and left the room. Cat's attention was caught by this, and she moved around to the corner of the apartment to get a better view from the other side. She sleuthed behind parked cars and finally took a spot from behind a tall, wide lamp post, which flickered on and off. The light was mostly off, so Cat decided that it was the best spot to spy from. She watched as the boy pulled at his hair in frustration of some sort. She wondered what the problem was. Was he in the middle of something gone awry? Was he tired? What was his problem? She watched him closely as he got up and moved somewhere else... It looked like he was pulling something out of a closet, but since the item didn't give off a heat signature, Cat could read what it was, exactly. She watched as he walked over to the window and opened it, setting his elbows down and looking over the garment... Wait... Was that?

Cat's eye telescoped in on the object and used the programs to try and identify it. It was only seconds before her eyes widened in shock, "My jacket!"

The boy sighed and set the jacket down, hanging just slightly over the edge of the sill. She watched as he laid down on his bed to rest. For a moment Cat had no intentions of taking the jacket back but... Well, it was hers! It was the first item that she had gotten on her own, that she was proud of; however in a simple act of thoughtlessness, she'd lost it... It was offered, to her, to retrieve the jacket, but if someone went to pick it up, the kid would've asked questions. Maybe she could get it back? But if she does, she takes a chance of being caught and having the other boy see her... But it was her jacket! It would never fit a guy with as wide and muscular shoulders as his!... Wait... Did she just take notice of his features?

Cat shook out all of her thoughts and decided to go for it. She sprinted up to the building making sure that there were no other humans in sight. the side of the building was underlit anyway, so a normal human would have difficulties seeing her in the darkness of the evening. She looked up to the second story window and saw that there was an old, metal ladder on the side of the building, just a couple of feet above her head. Being as weak as she was now, she'd never have been able to jump straight up to the window, but the ladder was just within her grasp if she jumped high enough. She took a lowered stance and concentrated her energy through her legs, feeling an available strength build up just before taking a leap. Cat was able to grap the third step up of the ladder and pull herself up. She reached the second level and looked to her left. The window was easily reached as she clung to the ladder. She was able to pull at the leather material and gently slip the jacket off of the window sill and into her posession.

"Got it!" Cat cheered to herself.

"What the hell?!" She heard the boys' voice yell.

"Uh oh! Time to go!" Cat jumped down from the ladder and made a dash out of sight, but not before hearing the boy cry out once more.

"Get back here!" he shouted.

"Right," Cat snorted, "Like I'm really just going to stop and give up!"

Cat ran out of the buildings parking lot and down the quiet road. Luckily for her, there weren't many people out on a cool night in February.

As she got to the end of the block, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. Turning to look, she saw the same boy running after her in a rage. She gasped, "How the hell did he catch up with me?!" Cat turned back around and ran for the parking lot.

"I see you!" the boy yelled, "You'd better stop!"

'Yeah, good luck with that!' Cat snickered to herself as she was running forward and-

Hitting a stop sign, Cat fell to the ground with a 'thud'. 'I should really learn to look forward when I'm running' Cat groaned to herself.

"HA! I've got ya!" the boy yelled.

Swallowing her pride, Cat managed to get up and slide underneath a truck, hoping that she could elude the boy.

"Dammit... I might have been able to get out of here if I hadn't have been so careless..."

Cat crawled from underneath one car to another, even sliding under a small, economy car. The heavy running footsteps halted, althought Cat could hear small steps being taken around the parking lot. It was obvious that she managed to escape, but now all she needed to do was get far enough away from him so she could get to Christine. As suddenly as the chase began, the small footsteps appeared to have disappeared. Cat was under a small truck, looking around from underneath it. She sensed no human presence; and no heat signature from her left eye.

Crawling out from underneath the truck, Cat slowly stood up and turned around, looking throughout the parking lot, but not seeing a single soul.

"Maybe he gave up?" she clutched the jacket to her chest and as she turned, her left eye suddenly 'beeped' an alert to a heat signature. She whirled around and saw that the boy was standing nearly toe to toe with her.

"Gotcha!" he grabbed her right arm, but stopped as soon as he did so... Her arm felt cold and metallic...

It was dark, so he could barely make her facial features out; but he could clearly feel the slick metal of the arm.

"What the-... Seven?" he asked softly.

Cat pulled her arm back and stepped away a few paces, not answering. There wasn't any point in running now; he knew who she was.

"I... I thought that maybe it was all a dream... But you're really here," he said, astounded.

Cat wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, he'd already spotted her, but on the other, she didn't want to stay and be confronted by someone from her past. She stared into his eyes, knowing that they were going to ask questions... Complicated questions that required even more complicated answers. She shook her head slowly, signaling that she didn't want to bother to stay and answer them.

"I can't stay..." Cat said in nearly a whisper.

"Why?" Evan asked. Surely, he though, she hadn't traveled from wherever she was from to retrieve her jacket from him without so much as talking a little small talk.

Cat frowned, "Look, I think you should just-" she started before she felt chillingly cold dots assualting the top of her head. She looked up into the sky, feeling cold droplets of rain hit the skin on her face. The storm that was moving in had begun. The rain started to wash off some of the sandy dirt that had gotten on her from crawling underneath all of the vehicles. Evan stared at her through the shimmering waves of of falling water. She was a healthy, thin, her blue and yellow eyes closed as her head leaned back to feel the rain, her blackened hair ran nearly all the way down to the small of her back. He couldn't help but noticed that she had... matured... so much since they were younger.

"What happened to you?" Evan asked.

"It's... It's complicated..." Cat took a few more steps back.

"No, wait!..." he looked to the jacket that she was carrying, "You came back for it?"

Cat looked down to the jacket as well. Her eyes strayed from him and merely nodded.

There was a crash of thunder which didn't bother either of the two. They were both focused on the moment that they were in. Cat, wanting to take her leave and get home; And Evan, wanting to know more about what happened to the girl after they'd met all those years ago. Cat was seconds away from just turning to leave when a voice caught the two's attention.

"Evan! Yo, Evan!" the sound of Josh yelled as he ran towards his friend, "What were you screaming about back there?"

Evan turned back to Cat, "Can you stay to talk?"

Cat didn't want to stay. Why did she have to talk? This was rediculous...

"Look, I don't -"

"Dude!" Josh interrupted, his eyes grew wide as if he were shocked by a sudden realization, "That's her, isn't it?! That's the chick from the accident!"

"That's her all right," Evan kept his eyes on Cat, afraid that she was going to take off before having the chance to talk. Her hair was soaked, dripping water the blackened strands which ran halfway down her back. Her bangs nearly hid her blue and yellow eyes as she looked up to the sky with a look of discomfort and irratibility.

'BOOM'

Cat's head spun around looking in the direction of the sudden noise. That couldn't be what she thought it was...

"Come on, man. Let's get back before we get struck by lightning!" Josh said, fearing that he would be one of the unlucky individuals who could get struck by lightning at the drop of a hat.

Cat shook her head, "That wasn't lightning..."

Evan and Josh looked to the girl with confused facial expressions, "What are you talking about?" Josh asked.

A flash of lightning streaked across the skies in the cloudy night, showing Cat what her left eye had already deducted. A silhoette of a giant figure loomed over a nearby abandoned building. Evan and Josh suddenly noticing it as it rose slowly from behind the small, brick establishment. The figure moved smoothly as it stood all the way up, blocking the view of a street lamp behind it. Cat stood still as stone, her eyes lowered into a knowing glare. The optics flickered on, revealing crimson red orbs, which were staring back at the three humans.... That was no Autobot...

"What _is_ that?!" Josh asked, suddenly feeling a pounding in his chest as if his heart were trying to burst out in freedom.

"Run..." Cat whispered, her eyes not straying from the twenty foot tall figure.

Evan grabbed Cat's right arm, trying to pull her to face him, "That's the thing, isn't it? That's the one from that night!"

Joshs' eyes suddenly widened at the two in sudden realization, "It's real?!"

Cat continued to stare, ignoring Evan, as she slowly pulled the rider's jacket around her and put it on. She could hear the thousands of "pings" and "clangs" that the droplets of rain made as they hit the armor. A flash of lightning revealed the black and white police cruiser design on the chest plates. Another pair of small, blue optics appeared from the shoulder of the larger figure. The smaller figure cackled as it clung to the larger mech's armor.

Barricade and Frenzy...

"RUN!" Cat yelled, turning and grabbing the two boys by their shoulders and pushing them away, she could hear the crashes of the building being crushed under Barricade's strength as he pursued.

--

No Chapter Teaser this time, folks!

For anyone who didn't understand the joke surrounding "Christine" you may want to take a look at my fic **"Our First Halloween"**


	29. Call for help!

Hey guys! First day of May! Yay! Soon the sounds of cars racing around the track for the race will fill the air!... As well as the sounds of drunks ramming into port-o-potties... 'shrugs' You'd have to live in Indy to understand I suppose. ^_^ Anyway, here's the latest update!

FORD B: I'm so very glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the review, and I hope to keep surprising my readers around every corner!

Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, I own Cat.

Enjoy!

--

Cat stayed behind the two boys as she pushed them away from Barricade's wrath. She looked behind her to see that Barricade was thrashing around, destroying building after building, leaving shrapnel and debris in his wake.

'I need to use that for some extra time...' Cat thought to herself as she looked forward again, "Hey!" she shouted up to the two, "Get behind that building!"

"Are you kidding?!" Evan asked, "Did you _see_ what that thing did back there?!"

Cat growled, "Just do it! I won't let him kill us!" She shouted. At this point she had to yell as loud as she possibly could with the rain, now, pounding down on them. It was hitting the ground nearly as loud as the debris of the destroyed buildings were.

Evan and Josh veered off to the left, leading Cat behind the tall building that she had pointed to. Once they were behind the alley, they stopped, breathing harshly as the three fought the burning sensation in their lungs.

"What now?" Josh asked, looking around the corning of the dark alley to see if he could spot the giant robot from afar.

Cat pulled up the sleeve of her jacket and opened the panel of her false right arm to activate her emergency tracking chip, "We can't do much except try and get the hell out of here," she said as she pressed the button, "But we can still call for help, nonetheless."

"Call for help from who?" Evan asked, staring at the girl's arm as a small, red light started to flicker.

"Just some friends," she looked up to the two, "I told you it was complicated..."

The sounds of buildings crashing to the ground became alarmingly closer and Josh turned to Cat, "I think we need a new place to hide!"

Cat pulled the sleeve of her jacket back down, "We just need to get to my car. If we can mislead him, we might have enough time to get away right under his nose..." she thought for a moment.

"How the hell do you know all of this?!" Josh asked in a frantic cry.

"Experience," Cat replied, wiping some of the wet locks of hair out of her face.

There was only one way to ensure that the other two got away. Cat sighed and turned to the two boys, "All right listen... We're going to need to split up."

"I'm with you!" Josh shouted, siding with Cat.

"Hey!" Evan's face contorted into an indignant expression.

"No," Cat shook her head, suddenly feeling the pounding in the ground from Barricade's footsteps, "He's going to follow me, and if I work this out like I think I can, we can all get out of here."

"What do we do?" Evan nodded.

--

Barricade struck every building and kicked every car in his way. He could still smell the three humans in the area... They were close by... Frenzy made tiny jumps up and down, pointing to the building that the three humans were hiding behind. Barricade grinned, this will be too simple. As he approached the building, ready to punch through the brick office building, he noticed that the three ran from behind it, running away from him down the open street.

"You're making this too easy!" Barricade smirked as he ran after them.

Approaching the three, the mech nearly had them at fingertip reach when they suddenly split, running to either sides of the roads. The two males running to the right, and the clone female to the left. He stopped, watching as they all ran in their different directions. He growled 'This was the female's idea...' But the decision on who to follow came easily. He turned to the right and ran after the two males.

--

Cat handed the keys to Evan, "It's an old Plymouth. Bright red, and white. You'll know it when you see it," she explained, "When you get there, my cell phone is on the passenger seat, and it'll probably be ringing continuously. Just pick it up and answer it. Tell whoever it is that the thing that's after us is called "Barricade". Tell them what our plan is and where we are, they should be on their way after that."

"What about you?" Evan asked, "What if you don't make it to the meet point?"

Cat frowned, "Don't be ignorant, I'll make it..."

The sounds of a large enemy approaching made the three turned towards the end of the alley, watching the street, "It's time to go..." Cat announced.

"Let's do this!" Josh tried to pump himself up into being ready for the big run.

"Now!" Cat led the other two through the other side of the alley and out from behind the building. They ran straight out into the street, Cat was sure that she could hear Barricades' footsteps closing in on them.

"Go!" Cat yelled as the three of them separated, she running to her left, and the boys running to their right. Cat was hoping that if they could just make a quick turn around the block, they could get to her car and pick her up once she's lost Barricade. Hopefully, by that time, the guys would be on their way. For a few seconds of running Cat was sure that everything was going as planned before she noticed that the pounding of Barricade's footsteps were no longer behind her. She stopped and turned to see where the mech was, but found that he was nowhere in sight.

'But where could he have-' Cat thought before a sudden realization came over her, "Damn! He went after them!" She quickly set off in the opposite direction, following the path of destruction that the Decepticon had laid.

"What the hell could he want with them?!" Cat questioned as she began to catch up, "There!" she realized as she saw the form of Barricade transform into his mustang mode.

"Gotcha!" Cat neared the mech and brought her right fist up to strike the vehicle, when she was suddenly struck from the side, being pummeled to the ground.

Looking up, she could see that the little annoyance, Frenzy, was chattering away in his first language, looking proud of himself for having detered Cat from reaching the other mech.

"I'm going to finish you off the way I should have, long ago!" Cat stood up and rushed at Frenzy, watching carefully as he manuevered away from her strikes. He cackled with a laughter that only enraged Cat even more. The small mech had made her so mad as he dodged her every attempt to destroy him, that he was careless enough to get clipped as her titanium arm as it grazed one of his small legs. He hopped over onto a mailbox, making another quick jump as Cat gave a shriek of anger, her arm completely obliterating the mailbox, letters flying in every direction, metal against metal scraping and tearing, making the box nearly unrecognizable. Before she could turn to him again, she was overcome by an attack of his own, being struck in the left side, falling to the concrete street. She made a quick recovery, clenching her teeth as she looked back to find the small mech.

'I don't have time for this! I need a new strategy!' Cat thought as she glowered across the street. It was obvious that she was going to need a new way to catch the little silver mech, but the more time she wasted on this battle, the less time she would have to save the two humans whom she promised safety to.

--

Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee had been worn out from a day of traveling and finishing up watching a movie that they had brought over for their friends. It was getting late, and they were supposed to leave early the next morning to get back home and to finish up the projects that were due in their Physiology class.

Walking into the dark apartment, the two teens were suddenly given the grand welcome back ceremony by Rotten as he ran to them, demanding their attention.

"Hey Rotten," Mikaela bent down to give the Rottweiler the well deserved back scratching.

"Is it just me, or did he grow twice as big since we last saw him?" Sam asked, eyeing the large animal.

Mikaela had managed to get the dog to roll over, his feet pawing towards the ceiling as she rubbed his belly, "Well Cat _did_ say that he was already a hundred and twenty pounds. I guess the vet that comes to check him out said that he thinks Rotten will probably be one of the largest Rottweilers that he's seen in a while."

Sam smirked, bending down to help Mikaela rub on the dog, "Yeah, and one of the biggest pushovers."

"I know," Mikaela laughed, "I worried that he might be a biter being such a big dog, but he's such a sweetheart!"

Rotten made small whimpering noises while being rubbed, which made the two humans laugh. They finished their reunion with Cat's friend as they stood and hugged one another, saying their goodnights and heading off to bed.

Bumblebee had pulled into the garage space of the apartment and was settling in for a good night's recharge. He always enjoyed visiting, but driving there could be a daunting task some days. He waited for the teens to go into their separate guest rooms, Rotten following Mikaela. The apartment went dark, once more, as a slight pitter of rain gently hit the windows that surrounded the main rooms. Even for a Cybertronian, the rain was comforting. Nearly in recharge, Bumblebee suddenly heard the sounds of fellow Autobots running down the hallways. The large, hard steps against the ground also brought Sam and Mikaela from their rooms.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam dashed through the apartment and opened the door, watching as Prowl and Ironhide ran past him, turning down the end of the hallways and making a quick disappearance.

"What's the matter?" Mikaela asked.

"I don't know," Sam turned to Bumblebee, "What's the deal?"

Bumblebee was quiet for a moment while he attempted to get a quick answer from one of the Autobots that weren't using their communications.

"What did he say?" Mikaela asked, approaching the doorway to be alongside Sam.

"Nothing yet," the boy checked the hallways again.

Bumblebee's engine suddenly roared to life, the teens and Rotten staring at him.

"It's Cat," he replied.

--

The security lab was usually empty and quiet, however the mainframe had called attention to the Autobot crew, causing a large commotion. They were all gathered, waiting for the orders to move out to whatever location was in need of their aid.

Sunny crossed his arms as he waited for the orders, "This better be good! I was using a new wax for my paint job," he whined.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" Sideswipe asked.

"Cat's emergency tracking unit was activated. We're trying to contact her to confirm it, just in case it was either accidentally hit, or if it's disfunctional," Prowl informed them.

"Any luck?" Bluestreak asked.

"Not as of yet," the tactician shook his head.

"Wait," Wheeljack suddenly quieted the group, "Someone's picked up. I'll put it on speaker," he punched some codes into the mainframe.

"H-hello? Is anyone there?!" It was the voice of an unfamiliar male.

Everyone in the room went quiet. That was definitely not Cat.

"Hello," Optimus chimed in, "Who is this?"

"My... My name is Josh! I'm in Boulder City!" the boy sounded frantic, as if his mind were in several different places at once.

"Josh, where is the owner of this line?" Optimus asked.

"That girl, she's out there! Her and Evan! He tried to tell me, but I didn't believe him, now I don't know where the hell either of them are!" the boy answered the best he could being in the state that he was.

"Slow down, I need you to tell me what's going on," Optimus began to wonder if the activation of her tracking unit had been an accident at all.

"My roommate, Evan. He was in some sort of accident two months ago! He said that a giant robot nearly killed him, but I didn't believe it! Now it's here, and it's after us! You gotta help us! She said you'd come to help us!" Josh became more and more frantic as he tried his best to explain.

"Josh, this is important. How many of the robots are there?" Optimus asked, wondering if this was the Decepticon attack that they were expecting.

"I think it's just one! What... What did he call her? Oh, uh - Seven? Is that right? Seven went after it!"

Everyone was stunned. Cat hadn't gone by her project name since before the events of Mission City, and everyone was sure that she would never tell a stranger that it was her name. That meant that, not only could this be a Decepticon attack, but Sector Eleven could be involved as well.

"Hello?! Are you still there?!" Josh asked, thinking that the connection had been lost.

"Yes... We're on our way! Stay where you are!" Optimus assured, Wheeljack quickly closing the connection to Cat's cellular device.

"Autobot's Roll-" Optimus started.

"Wait!" Prowl stopped the leader, "There's another incoming transmission..."

"We don't have time, Prowl!" Ironhide was geared up for battle. If there was a Decepticon, he was always ready to kick some aft!

"It's an Autobot," Prowl discovered, "I'm barely picking up the transmission, but I believe they're close by."

"An Autobot?" Optimus thought aloud as he turned to Prowl, "How close are they to Boulder City?"

--

Cat was staring down at Frenzy, who was dancing around in a taunting manner. Enough was enough. She had to go after Barricade, and she's probably already lost a lot of time by trying to defeat this small, annoying creature. An idea suddenly popped into Cat's head and she smirked at Frenzy.

"You want me?" Cat asked.

Frenzy clicked and cheered at the question.

"Fine... Then come and get me!" Cat ran off in the direction of where Barricade had gone, hoping that Frenzy would immediately follow. If she could gain some ground on the larger Decepticon, she may still have some time to keep a death toll from starting. Cat looked behind her to see that Frenzy was right on her tail. This was definitely not going to be an easy battle.

--

"He's right on us!" Josh screamed as he looked back to see Barricade nearly reaching them on foot.

Evan reached in his pockets and took out the keys to that old Plymouth that Cat had given him, "Here!" he threw them to Josh, "Go find the car and stay there!"

"What about you?!" Josh asked.

"Don't worry about it, just go!" Evan yelled, dodging one of Barricade's attempts to grab him.

"Right!" Josh turned off of the street, taking a narrow alley behind some buildings.

Barricade ignored Josh, and stayed right on Evans tail. The boy was near to the point that he was just going to stop and give up, however he looked behind himself and saw that "Seven" was close by. She was running up behind Barricade faster than he'd ever seen a human run.

A sudden honk caught Evan's attention as he saw an old truck pull up next to him and the passenger side door open up. There were two older men on the inside, the driver shouting, "Get in!"

Evan took advantage of the sudden generosity and jumped into the truck cabin, the driver peeling away. Looking into the side-view mirror, Evan noticed that the robot had changed from that form into the mustang in order to follow closer. The girl was nearly close enough to strike when he saw the smaller robot pummeled her, taking her down.

"Seven!" Evan shouted. He turned to the driver, "We've gotta go back!"

"Don't think that's possible right now!" the old man griped, "I always knew this would happen! Never thought I'd live to see it, but always knew it would happen!"

Evan's thoughts went to what was going to happen to the girl as they turned from one street to the next, being followed closely by the mustang cruiser. It didn't take more than a few seconds before the sports car caught up with the truck and took to the right side of it. Evan could only stare as the black and white police cruiser rammed into the side of the truck, causing the old man to lose control.

"Hold on!" he shouted as he tried to turn the wheel and compensate. The truck swerved and slid on the slick roads, causing it to collide into a parked car, the back wheels picking up and turning the truck over on its side as it rolled over twice, stopping in an upsidedown position. Evan was pinned in the truck, his legs over top of him as he fought to stay awake and alert.

"Let's get out of here!" the old man shouted as he and his other passenger escaped through the driver's side door, leaving Evan to face the robot alone, as it stopped next to the truck, changing back into its bipedal form.

Evan could do nothing but allow the monster to tear into the truck, pulling his near lifeless body out. He felt the metal hand bring him right up to the hideous face, staring blankly into the crimson red "eyes" which stared back at him.

"Flee from _me_ will you? I'll show you what power a true Decepticon is capable of, rodent!" Barricade seethed.

Evan felt the metal hand begin to squeeze his body slowly. Little by little he was losing his breath, and feeling his bones compress under the immense pressure. He nearly couldn't hold on any longer before he felt the hand suddenly dropped, Evan's body hitting to the ground as the grip loosened. His vision was blurred, however he saw the black and white mech turn quickly, his other hand reaching around to his back.

"Little pest!" Evan heard Barricade screech with anger as he reached around, trying to grasp at "Seven".

The girl was on the monsters back, pulling at wires and tearing at its circuitry. Evan smiled up at the sight of her, "You came... You came back..." and he promptly passed out.

--

Cat closed in on Barricade as she saw him transform back into his bipedal mode from a street over. She was nearly to the next street when she was tripped from behind, falling to the ground and rolling over a number of times before she stopped. She growled, turning to get up, when she felt the weight of the small creature on her back, it's tiny hands reaching around her neck and strangling her. Cat tried to pull at the arms, but it was no use.

"D-d-d-d-d-die! Die!" the small mech jeered.

'Five, if you can hear me, I need help!' Cat thought as she let out a small cry. At the moment she could have used just about any help at all, and if the Allspark or Five could sense that she was in danger, maybe one of them could lend her a hand. Unforntunately she couldn't bring the feelings of eternal rage that was normally associated with the sudden surge.

She coughed and struggled for breath before she looked just in front of her and saw a large brick just a couple of feet away. She dropped down, laying on the ground fully as her right arm reached as far as it could. Her fingertips barely touched the red slab of rock. She was nearly close to losing consciousness when she was finally able to drag the brick over to her with a single finger. She grabbed the brick, and brought it up behind her, striking Frenzy in the head. Frenzy let go of her neck, trying to rebound from being struck when Cat turned and grabbed the small creature with her left hand by the nape of his torso armor. Frenzy brought up his left arm as it transformed into a small weapon, before Cat grabbed the arm and tore it off, Frenzy screeching in agony.

"You're finished!" Cat shouted as she grasped him in her right arm and standing up. She reeled back and threw the small creature away.

"Aieeee!" Frenzy screamed.

Cat turned and coughed to regain some of her breath as she ran to the next street. Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed that Barricade had Evan in his grip, squeezing him to near death. She dashed forward and jumped onto Barricades' back, climbing up his armor and pulling the same manuever that she had on Ironhide. She reached into his shoulder armor and began pulling at the wires, feeling Barricades' side slump as he lost control over the limb that was squeezing the boy. Barricade turned in anger and began reaching around with his other arm, trying to grasp at Cat.

"Little pest!" Barricade snarled as he tried to make a grab at her.

She was able to dodge most of his attempts, however as he turned quickly, her fingers slipped from the slick, metal armor and was thrown to the ground on her back, just in front of Evan. The familiar feeling of small shocks of pain traveled up the right side of her back. Sliding across the concrete had scraped against her fair skin. The tank top she wore was torn and ripped in places. Her right cheek was also covered in one large cut and several small scrapes. Her face dripped with the runny, red blood that poured She tried to muster up all the strength she had left just to pull herself up on her elbows.

Barricade growled with fury as he turned to look down at Cat.

'All right Five, or Allspark... This would be a great time for you to help me out here!' Cat thought as she grit her teeth. Her emotions began to overtake her as she felt a small surge writhe within her. It felt like a white-hot searing pain of anger, her throat let out a small growl, her fingers dug into cement, and her heart began to pound within her chest.

Barricade began to reach down to grab her, "Now that I have you, you will obey me or I will kill you!"

'Obey? Why does he want me to obey him? I thought he wanted me dead?' Cat thought. She felt the surge suddenly overtake her, a blue light forming around her. The light shimmered against the falling droplets of rain. She lowered her head, gritting her teeth. The water that puddled around Cat suddenly scattered away from her in a rippling effect, like small waves on a tiny ocean.

"What's this?" Barricade asked, as he stopped in his tracks, watching the girl carefully. A high intensity magnetic field could be picked up on his sensors. It started out just surrounding the girl's body, but slowly began to grow.

Cat felt the intensity build up in her body as she suddenly glared up at Barricade with a look of pure hatred. Her jaw clenched, the visible muscles on her arms and legs tightening, her whole body was shivering.

"What are you doing?!" Barricade took a step back. For the first time since the fall of Megatron, he feared what this human could do to him. So far, she had shown no apparent way of being able to do what Five had done to Starscream, however this single moment seemed ominous and even terrifying to the Decepticon.

Cat stood and looked up into Barricades shining crimson optics. She could tell that he was having visions of the past.

'His fear,' she thought, 'It... It makes me feel so... gratified...' a sick smile appeared on Cat's face.

Barricade, noticably, flinched. He could see some sort of change in the girl... As if it weren't really her...

--

No Chapter Teaser this time either!

I hope that everyone was able to follow how I wrote this chapter. I wanted to make sure that you knew how things were done. Let me know if you were, at all, confused or if you loved it, loathed it, whatever, just let me know!


	30. How to Vanish in Thin Air

Hey guys! How goes it? As you may know from reading my profile I'm busily trying to keep up with this but it never works, excuse excuse excuse blah blah blah, as long as you check back to my profile every now and again, you'll probably see a new update for one thing or another. My deviant art profile has been somewhat neglected too, so I'm treating all of my internet children with the same love and respect =D .... Sorry....

FORD B : Thank you! I hope your expectations for this chapter are as good as you hoped it would be.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat.

I hope you're all going to see the new movie on the 24th! I know I - ... I'll watch it at some point, really I will... You know it's actually kinda funny. When I saw the first TF movie I was on paid leave after, just a few days before, having surgery, and now it's coming out while I'm on vacation. Nice.

Quick question tho... Why Wednesday?

--

"No... It can't be you... Megatron killed you..." he bellowed.

"A lot of things happened, that day..." Cat walked towards him menacingly, "It doesn't mean everything worked out the way we think it did..." She walked slowly, her form totally slunk and relaxed. There was nothing, either in her heart or her head, stopping her from pushing forward.

The high intensity magnetic field took on it's blue-ish hue around Cat, slowly growing. Barricade stumbled as he stepped backwards, tripping over the leftover debris that he, himself, caused.

"It's time to tie up loose ends, and repair past blunders..." Cat stopped and frowned.

"What are you doing?!" Barricade growled, feeling foolish for having such a fear that this human could possibly do him any damage.

The surge shot out to Barricade, causing the Decepticon to be completely tossed through the air and down to the other end of the street. The sounds of metal scraping could probably be heard from the other side of town as his body landed and skidded to a stop. Barricade laid there, unmoving. Cat's body gave out and she fell, hitting the ground, breathing heavily.

"Did I do that?...Or was it her..." she coughed.

A loud, roaring engine was suddenly heard from behind her as she turned over onto her stomach and lifted her head to look up. She could make out bright headlights from far away. They shined on her and Evan brightly as the vehicle approached. Cat pulled herself between Evan and the approaching vehicle, readying herself for a possible second battle. She was ready for anything that could happen. If she were to use what little energy she had left against just one more Decepticon, it would be well worth it. She pulled herself up, sitting on her knees when she recognized the vehicle. It stopped just a few feet away from them, and Cat smiled once more. It was Christine.

Josh jumped out of the drivers side door and ran over to them, "What the hell happened?!"

Cat sighed in relief. Now all she had to do was wait for the guys to show up and-

A rumble was felt within the ground. Cat's face went from relieved to 'uh oh' in a split second. She looked over to Josh, who was at his friends' side. Josh stopped what he was doing and looked down the street. His eyes suddenly grew in terror. Cat turned to look behind her and saw that Barricade had regained himself, and was on his feet, looking down their way. She watched as he tested both of his arms... They seemed to be fully functional...

Cat gasped, her own eyes widened, "No way... No... How?!"

Cat was sure that she didn't have the strength to create another surge, and even if she did, it may not have done anything to him anyway. She could stand, sure, maybe even have the strength to aid Josh in picking up Evan and making an escape in Christine. But defending against Barricade was going to be impossible. She could only watch as the Decepticon began to turn to hunt down his intended targets...

--

Optimus used the Global Positioning Sensor on Cat's arm to close in on her position. The whole crew was behind him as they made their way through the small town, careful to steer around the debris and particles left behind of an obvious battle.

"And Cat's here?" Mikaela asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

"It's Cat... She's all right," Sam assured, although not feeling quite as confident as he sounded.

"If this is the result of Barricade and Cat battling, then I would hate to know which one withstood the other," Prowl commented through the communications.

Mikaela's eyes widened in horror, warm tears beginning to form within them.

"Thanks a lot, Prowl," Sam put an arm around Mikaela to comfort her.

"It's my fault..." Mikaela suddenly spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked quietly, the others listening intently as well. Why would Mikaela blame herself for this encounter?

Through a sniff and some tears, Mikaela began to explain, "Cat called me earlier today and she told me that she'd seen the boy from the night that she'd seen Barricade for the first time..."

"What?" Sam was stunned.

"She said that she was following him, and I guess this is where she followed him to..." Mikaela looked up to Sam, "She said she was just going to find out something about him and come right back to the Dam..."

"What would she need to know?" Sam asked.

"She said the reason why she left before the paramedics could reach him was because he called her "Seven"." Mikaela weeped.

"Yeah, that sounds like something Cat wouldn't tell us," Ironhide commented.

"I told her that she should have told you guys, but she thought he didn't mean her any harm..."

"Then why didn't she just-" Sam began before receiving the look from Mikaela that told him 'you know why'.

"I just wish I'd spoken up before now... Maybe she'd be all right..." Mikaela felt guilt run through her body like a virus.

"Don't blame yourself, Mikaela, " Bumblebee encouraged, "When we find Cat, everything will be all right..."

"Makes sense, "Jazz commented, "The kid that answered Cat's cell called her 'Seven'. Means it may not be Secta Eleven afta all."

"We can only hope," Optimus agreed, "How close are we to the locator, Wheeljack?"

"We're closing in on the tracking device," the scientist replied, bringing everyone to attention of their surroundings.

Where was Cat? Was she all right? Every one of them couldn't help but think that this could have been it for the girl who had fought to stay alive since the beginning of her life...

--

"We gotta go!" Josh grabbed at Cat, pulling her up and helping her stand, "We gotta get Evan and go! Those friends of yours are on their way here!"

"Shh, wait..." Cat watched as Barricade looked around from side to side, turning around in a full circle.

"He... Can't find us... But how?" Cat used her left eye to try and find out what was making Barricade so confused. He looked in every direction, annoyance written on his faceplates. Cat's left eye picked up a field of some sort of particles that stood between Barricade and the group of humans. It was some sort of interference but... How did it get there?

The rain finally began to let up, the black, churning clouds beginning to fade away slowly, revealing the light of a full moon. Cat suddenly noticed a shadow which crept across the concrete street like a flow of water. Josh noticed it as well and the two looked across the street to behind a building, where the form of another robot rose from behind it.

"Oh my god! It's another killer robot!" Josh screamed.

"Shut up!" Cat scolded as she continued to stare at the figure, who's bright, blue optics stared back, "It's all right... He's one of ours..." She smirked. There probably wasn't a time that she had felt such relief, but her stomach settled and her heart slowed. It was as if a sudden blanket of safety had covered her body.

The sounds of several roaring engines and sirens could be heard in the not-so-far-off distance. Cat looked down the street at Barricade as he transformed into his mustang and drove out of sight, disappearing into the small town. She looked up to see that the other figure had jumped over the building, destroying the concrete street as he landed in front of them. She noticed that the armor on this one was the same sleek silver that the others were before they had scanned their new alternate modes. Was this one new?

"Did you help us?" Cat asked, unsure if this new Autobot was responsible for their safety.

The tall, slender figure nodded. Cat smiled up at the mech as he bent down to get a better look at the three humans. Josh ran back to Christine and hid behind it, watching from afar like a cat watching it's prey.

"You can call me Mirage," the smooth, deep voice of the newcomer revealed.

"Mirage," Cat aknowledged, "So did you do that? The particle field, I mean."

Mirage nodded, "How did you notice it? Even Megatron, himself, couldn't detect it during the battles that I had encountered him in," he sat down, gently, to talk with the humans.

Cat pointed to her left eye, "I have an optic that's pretty close to what you have. I can pick up heat signatures, energy signatures, and even trace amounts of anti-matter and high intensity particle fields. It's come in handy."

"I can imagine so," Mirage scanned over the three humans for informational use, "You wouldn't happen to be Catherine, would you?"

"Call me Cat, " she nodded with a smile, "You received Optimus' report didn't you?"

"No. Actually I landed several miles outside of this town and I found the communications that the Autobots stationed on Earth had created. When I contacted them, they were adament about me checking on things here. They feared that you and other humans were in danger," Mirage explained.

Cat turned back to see that Evan was still unconscious. She went over to him, pulling his chin up towards the sky and checking to make sure he was still breathing, "Yeah, I'm sure that I'll be getting another lecture... And I'm sure that this'll be the last time I'm allowed outside for the rest of my life..." she gently lifted Evans head up to check for any contusions, "Looks like he'll be okay."

"That power that you created," Mirage asked, "I couldn't even evaluate it's level. It was off my sensors scales! What was it?"

Cat sighed. How was she supposed to explain it?

"It's hard to explain. That was the first time that I've used it when it was necessary..." Cat answered, her eyes searching around as if the answer were in a puddle on the ground.

Mirage looked up and saw that the third human was still ducking behind the other vehicle, "You can come out. I won't harm you."

Josh looked back and forth from Cat to Mirage and replied, "....I'm cool...."

Cat smirked, "You'll have to excuse him. There's only a small percentage of humans who know anything about you guys. This is pretty much the reaction that you'll get from anyone who's new to the whole Cybertronian thing."

"Was this your reaction as well?" Mirage asked.

Cat laughed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, "No. My first assumption was that the guys were part of some sort of government experiment like I was. I didn't trust anyone because I had no reason to. It was my first encounter with anyone outside of the lab that I lived in."

"Lab? Like Wheeljack's lab?" Mirage was confused.

Cat shook her head and lowered it to the ground, "No, nothing like that. I'm pretty sure Wheeljack's never experimented on his own kind before... This was run by humans..." she looked up to the, still confused, look on the mech's silver plated face, "It's a long story..."

Mirage only nodded, taking in all of this new information. Humans were going to be a new concept that would take time to understand, however if any of them could do what he had witnessed Cat do, he would enjoy the new learning experience.

Cat and Mirage turned towards the end of the street, seeing the darkened roads lit up by flashing red and blue lights. The sirens had gone silent a moment ago, and now the form of Optimus, followed by the rest of the Autobots were now turning onto the street, fast approaching them.

"Here comes the crew," Cat sighed, wiping some of the drying blood from her face.

Josh ran past Cat and Mirage, waving to the semi truck and other vehicles as they pulled up and came to a stop, "Hey! Help! Giant robot!"

"I've got news for you kid," Josh turned at the sound of Cat's voice as she smirked and crossed her arms, "You're preaching to the choir."

Optimus began his transformation process, as did the rest of the line of cars and trucks, causing Josh to stand where he was, stunned.

Cat chuckled, watching as the young man ran back to Christine, his metaphorical tail between his legs.

Optimus was the first to finish his transformation, taking in the sight in front of him. Mirage stood up quickly, putting a hand to the soluting position.

"At ease, friend," Optimus made a nod towards the new mech, "Did you have any problems?"

Mirage shook his head, "Actually, Catherine made it easy to separate Barricade from herself and the other humans. All I had to do was use a particle field to make them disappear."

Optimus looked down to Cat, who was standing next to an unconscious human male. He noticed the amount of red that covered her face and bent down to her, "Are you all right?"

Cat nodded, "Yeah, just a few scratches and scrapes."

Optimus looked behind her and saw that the third human was ducking behind Cat's new vehicle as if he were too afraid to approach them. He looked back to the young fighter and frowned, "You've got a lot of explaining to do..."

"Optimus, I-" Cat started.

"Not before I get a chance to overlook the situation," Ratchet stepped in, followed by Prowl.

"This area is desolate of human activity, but I'm not sure that staying here much longer would not be a good idea. It may cause an uproar," Prowl noted.

"Let's clear this up quickly, then," Ironhide added, taking a look around the area.

Ratchet's hologram appeared, taking Cat by the chin and examining her closely. When he was done with that, he took her right arm and lifted the sleeve, taking a look at her false appendage. It was scuffed and dented badly, "Barricade did quite a number on you."

"You should see what I did to _him_," For a moment the twisted smile reappeared on Cats face.

Ratchet's hologram looked to her in order to make a clever response, but was suddenly frozen in place. He was unable to move but focused carefully on her narrowed, devilish eyes. They way they stared into nothing but looked as though the thoughts behind them were merciless and blood-thirsty. Her smile was wide and thin, but just as quickly as this appeared, Cats eyes instantly flashed back to their usual sweet and child-like mannerisms. Her mouth moved, however the medic didn't pay attention to a word of it. His processor straining to analyze what he had just seen.

"Ratch?" Cat looked up at the tan-ish face of the older male figure, her charasmatic looks studying him carefully with a worried glance, "Something wrong?"

"Er- no," Ratchet shook himself out of the image that he had just witnessed.

"I said Frenzy did some of this too," Cat repeated, Ratchet only hearing this for the first time, "Apparently they've found one another..."

Ratchet nodded, "I suppose they had to join back up sooner or later," he turned to Optimus, "It's all aesthetic. She just needs to be cleaned." But of course, he couldn't just leave it completely alone. The medic's hologram turned back to Cat, "Just one more thing."

"What's that?" Cat asked, just before receiving a whack to the back of her head, "Hey! What the hell was that for?!" she asked, both hands rubbing over the back of her head.

"Just checking..." The hologram muttered in a whisper.

"What?!" Cat griped.

Ratchet raised an eyebrow, "You know what it's for..." He went back to his work, going to Evan and beginning to check him over.

"No more NCIS for you..." Cat growled.

"Cat?!" the girls head looked up to see Mikaela and Sam running towards her, followed by Bumblebee, "Oh my god, are you okay?!" Mikaela hugged the drenched Cat quickly, pulling away to notice what was all over her friend.

"You're bleeding!" Mikaela looked Cat over like a mother hen, checking all of her scratches and cuts.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Cat reassured, "It's all right, there's nothing to worry about."

Sam was nearly right behind Mikaela, "Where's Barricade?"

"He took off when he heard you guys from far away," Cat replied, "Mirage had him all confused."

Optimus turned to Bluestreak and the twins, "Take a quick look around to make sure that Barricade is no longer in the area."

The three nodded, "Yes sir," they replied as they transformed and made their way through the streets.

"Which one of these boys is the one that you followed?" Ratchet asked.

Cat looked surprised at the medic and asked, "How did you-" she stopped and looked to Mikaela, "You told them?!"

"She should have told us sooner, from what we know so far!" Prowl commented in his usual monotonous vocalizer.

Cat shook her head and sighed, looking down to Evan and pointing to him, "That's the kid that I saw on Christmas Eve..."

"And why is it that he's calling you "Seven"?" Optimus asked.

Cat looked up to the leader with a surprised glance, "You... You know?"

Mikaela sighed, "I'm sorry Cat... You were in trouble so I thought that saying something would help them understand what was going on..." Cat could clearly make out the guilt that was written all over Mikaela's face. Although she was hoping that she never had to tell anyone else about her little secret, she didn't want her friend to feel as if she were a part of the ring of lies.

Cat shook her head, "No it's all right. I knew they were going to find out sooner or later. I just wasn't expecting it to be tonight... Barricade kind of made it necessary..." she smiled slightly in order to comfort her distraught friend.

Mikaela gave a small smile in return as she nodded in agreement.

"Is there going to be a week where we won't have to worry about the trouble you're getting into?" Sam smirked.

Cat smiled, "I'll see if I can pencil something in next month. This month, I'm all booked up."

The teens smiled and gave a light chuckle, helping them to be comforted after fearing that they were going to be scraping their friend up from the sidewalks.

"We're going to need to be updated on everything that you know up to this point," Prowl commented.

"And as much as I'd like to sit here and tell you all about what happened tonight, I'm exhausted. I'd like to go home."

"I suppose we can wait to get back to the Dam to have all of this straightened out," Optimus thought aloud, "But just be sure to tell us _everything_ this time. If you believe that something is amiss, no matter what it is, we need to know as well."

Cat nodded, her eyes straying to the ground, "I know... I think everything's basically out now, though..."

"Except for this," little to Josh's knowledge, Bumblebee was able to sneak up behind him and grab the poor boy, sending him into hysterics.

"LET GO OF ME MAN! I KNOW TAE KWON DO!" Josh struggled against the hold that Bee had on the back of his shirt as he twisted and turned with every punch and kick he threw.

"Who is this?" Optimus asked.

"It's all right, "Cat tried to calm the situation, "He's a friend of the other kid, and I'm afraid that he got caught up in all of this..."

"He must be the one who answered yo cell," Jazz realized.

"Ah," Cat suddenly understood how all of this came together so well, "So they got to the phone in time, huh?"

"No," Optimus replied, "Just him. He had lost you and the other boy by the time we were in contact with him."

"So you left him behind and ran off like a scared little girl?" Cat asked Josh.

"No!" Josh replied indignantly, "Evan _told_ me to take the keys and go find the car! It was sort of a touch-and-go moment so I did what he said to do!"

"Okay," Sam tried to understand what had happened, "So why didn't Barricade nab you before you could get away?"

"Sounds like he was after Evan for some specific purpose," Mikaela added.

Everyone, holograms and humans alike, turned to look at Cat, staring as if waiting for some kind of answer.

"What?!" Cat asked, "Oh, like _I_ know!"

"You really don't know? Or you know but you don't want to say anything because you think it might incriminate you?" Bumblebee asked.

"I _really_ don't know!" Cat spat. The group, reluctantly, believed her. She could tell that getting any of them to believe what she said would be more difficult from now on.

"Perhaps it lies with Cat, herself," Optimus hypothesized.

"What do you mean?" Jazz asked.

"Barricade caused his accident on the night that she went to visit the Witwicky's on a holiday, and once more appeared when she met him tonight. He did not attack the boy when he was by himself," the leader explained.

"No way," Cat shook her head, "Barricade had no idea that I was coming his way when he attacked the kid. He ran away from me when I revealed myself, remember?"

"But he's right, " Sam interjected, "Barricade's probably had a million chances to kill him, right? Why did he wait until you were nearby until he did it?"

Cat's eyes strayed and she shrugged, "I don't know..."

"Perhaps we can get more information from their dwelling. Maybe something the boy kept has made him a target," Prowl suggested.

"Where do you live?" Optimus asked Josh.

"Uh-er.. Well we live in the crummiest apartment in town down on -" Josh began.

"Ah-hem," Cat stopped him, "Uh, 'crummy' would probably be the best way to describe it..."

"Why, what's wrong?" Mikaela feared the worst.

"Barricade sort of... Destroyed it..." It wasn't really so much that Cat felt bad that their place had been destroyed, she was more worried for the fact that if there was no other place to go, they'd have to -

"I suppose they should come back with us, then," Optimus vented a sigh.

"Wait, I don't remember the complex being leveled, when did _that_ happen?" Josh asked.

"You mean you don't recognize your block?" Cat pointed to the end of the street where, sure enough, the remains of a large building were in crumbles.

"Oh my- Oh GOD!" Josh ran to the remains, screaming, "My stuff! My furniture! It's all gone!"

"Shouldn't we leave and let him mourn in peace?" Cat whined.

"Cat!" Mikaela hissed.

"Sorry..."

"It's settled, then," Optimus declared, "Cat, these two will be bunking with you until we can find something for them."

Cat had been giggling and smirking to herself as she watched Josh pour over losing his lawn chairs when she suddenly turned towards the blue Autobot, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You heard him," Ratchet smirked himself.

"Uh, no... No, no no no, that's not going to work - Optimus! This just isn't right! I mean," she watched the poor boy for a moment more and then turned back and said, "I'd kill them!"

"Sorry, Cat," Jazz almost couldn't hold back his contented laughter, "But you kinda brought this on to yo-self."

"Wait a second," Sam spoke up, "Mikaela and I are bunking at her apartment tonight, where are we supposed to go now?"

Cat's eyes glittered with excitement, "Yeah!"

"I'll call back to the base and have the medical staff prepare some beds for these two boys. It looks as though this one will need some medical care anyway," Ratchet offered.

"Thanks..." Cat drooped, knowing that once the kids needed to go back to Tranquility, she'd be stuck with the other two.

"Cat, you can take your vehicle and give 'Josh' a ride back to the Dam. Bumblebee can take the children back as well, and I think it would be best if Jazz and Ironhide escorted you, just in case Barricade or any other Decepticon decides to reappear," Optimus ordered.

"Fine.." Cat grumbled as she started towards her Plymouth.

"And Cat?" Optimus added.

"Yeah?" Cat looked to the leader with hope. Maybe he would say that it was all a joke, that he would have the Dam provide some other accomodations for the two boys and that she wouldn't have to worry about a thing.

"We're going to need to talk with you more tomorrow," he made sure to burst that last little balloon of hope with a smirk.

"...Okay..." Oh god, this was going to be hell...

-

No Chapter Teaser this time either! Sorry folks, it'll be back soon! I promise!


	31. Take a closer look

Hey guys! Betcha didn't think I'd update this soon, huh? Well I've gotten some extra time, and time is good!

FORD B : That's our hot-head! =D Yeah, I saw the movie, and I loved it to death!

AccessBlade: I have a feeling that there's probably not going to be a day when she's not in trouble ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat.

Oh! Also I just wanted to add in here, because I won't be updating again before then, that I hope everyone has a good Holiday for July 4th! Take good care when setting off fireworks! I know _I'll_ be setting quite a few off myself! 'evil grin'

Enjoy!

--

Cat was just behind Ironhide has him and Jazz led the way home, Bumblebee was close behind 'Christine' in a tight formation just in case they were attacked.

"What about Evan?" Josh suddenly spoke, realizing that he had left his friend behind.

"Ratchet's bringing him back so he can watch him while he's unconscious," Cat replied, "I'll take you to the med lab and you can sleep there until we find you a new place."

"Where do _you_ stay?" Josh asked.

Cat rolled her eyes, "I live in an apartment in the Dam... With my dog... My large, vicious, man-eating dog," she made sure to put emphasis on that last part.

"Oh... So why can't we just stay in your place?" this boy obviously didn't pick up the subtle hints that Cat had just dropped.

"Because it's mine..." Cat replied.

"Well, our apartment was just totally destroyed, along with our clothes, our food... Oh my god, the food!" he suddenly realized, "That was supposed to last us for two more weeks! Go back, man, we gotta get the rest!"

"I'm not turning around so you can pick apart some rubble to find a gallon of milk!" Cat seethed, "The medical staff will provide meals."

There was a pause. Josh was quiet for a moment. It was a vale of silence that Cat wished would either stay, or be blown away by music... Man, she wished she had them install a radio. However the one she wanted was going to be on backorder for weeks, so she decided to wait until she came across the specific model somewhere else. Looking over, Cat could tell that he was thinking very hard. Although she was afraid what it was about...

"...Maybe this is a good thing," Josh brought his head up in realization as his eyes strayed around.

"What?" Cat asked.

"Well... Evan and I were about a month away from being kicked out because we can't afford the rent, we both lost our jobs, there was no other place that we could have gone... Maybe this is a good thing!" he pointed out, a smile crossing his face.

'Great,' Cat thought, 'That means they'll probably stay as long as it'll possibly take to, literally, annoy me to death...'

"Let me remind you something," Cat felt that it was only fair to warn him, "You were just attacked by a robot from outer space, and we have no idea why. That means that you're probably going to be meeting him again."

Josh's happy face turned into a stone, terror expression, "...You don't think that he's going to really come back for us... is he?"

Cat sighed, settling into the drivers seat and looking into her rearview mirror for a second, "I don't know... This is the second time that I've met up with him, and both times are when I'm around your friend..."

"Well, what about _them_?" he pointed to Jazz and Ironhide, who were leading the four-car convoy.

"What about them?" Cat asked, sure of herself that she was going to be the one stuck explaining everything about the Autobots to him.

"Well I mean... They're the good guys... right?" he asked.

Cat gave a crack of a smile out of the corner of her mouth, "Yeah they're the good guys all right. You've got nothing to be afraid of from them."

The vehicles continued on their trek back to the dam.

--

"Let's get this finished, and soon," Prowl advised, "There are local law enforcement units beginning to respond."

"It'll take them some time to find us, though," Ratchet replied as his bipedal self transformed into his alt, Hummer form, "Help me load this boy, Prowl."

Ratchet had already secured Evan to the stretcher from his rear cab of the Hummer. As soon as he was finished transforming, his older, but muscular hologram appeared and looked up to Prowl for help. The black and white mech reluctantly agreed, only reluctant to do so because he feared too much longer and they would be discovered. And the more humans who saw them, the more possibilities of their residence on Earth to be exposed and endangered. Endangered only for the fact that the Decepticons had already been living on Earth without the knowledge of the Autobots, and who knows what they would do if the Decepticons had found out exactly where they were living.

Prowl aided Ratchet in lifting Evan and carefully placing him into the cab of the Hummer.

While Ratchet was making the last few adjustments to secure his new load, Optimus turned to Mirage.

"Thank you, again for responding so quickly," he thanked.

"It wasn't a problem, Optimus. I'm glad I was able to help, although I can't say that I'm happy to see that there are Decepticons already beginning to invade Earth," Mirage replied.

"Barricade and Starscream were the only two to disappear after Megatrons death in Mission City. Fortunately, Barricade is the only one on Earth, however he still manages to show up out of nowhere and do this sort of damage," Optimus explained.

"I don't understand, Optimus. If humans can do what I have witnessed Cat do, why does Barricade even bother trying to attack?" Mirage asked.

The other three Autobots stopped what they were doing and looked to Mirage.

"I'm somewhat confused as well," Prowl interjected, "Humans, Mirage, have no capabilities to defeat a Decepticon. Their size makes them lack the ability to fight off any Cybertronian without proper weaponry."

"Except, perhaps, one," Ratchet huffed, looking to Optimus.

"What, exactly, did you witness, Mirage?" Optimus asked, taking the hint from his medical officer.

"Uh.. Well, sir.. Just before I was within range to protect the three humans from Barricade, I saw him backing away from her, as though she had some degree of control over the situation. I could not understand any word that she spoke, having still not found the English language, but she managed to produce an extremely intense magnetic wave. I attempted to evaluate it, but her power was too immense," Mirage explained, "For a moment my sensors gave out, the power producing some threatening effects on my systems. When I managed to regain myself, she was lying on the ground, and Barricade had been thrown several hundred yards away."

"Barricade took a full blow of the Allspark's power and still managed to escape?" Prowl asked himself aloud.

"Not without some sort of damage, I'm sure," Ratchet replied.

"Allspark, sir?" Mirage suddenly realized what Prowl had said.

"To make a long story short," Optimus started, "Cat has inheirited the power of the Allspark through a fusion with another human."

"Fusion? Humans can fuse their bodies together?" Mirage asked.

The sounds of a squad of law enforcement vehicles rang throughout the town streets. The Autobots held fast on ther conversation and listened to see how close they were.

"We're going to have to catch up later," Ratchet advised.

Optimus nodded, "Mirage, you'll need a vehicle mode."

"Right, sir," Mirage quickly took to looking around the area, the only vehicle that was intact was the rusty old truck that had turned over with Evan still inside. Mirage scanned it, quickly shifting gears and changing the properties of his armor from the sleek silver, into a rusty gold-colored truck.

"Let's Rollout!" Optimus ordered as the rest of them also transformed into their alternate modes and took off.

--

Cat, Sam and Mikaela and just gotten through, dropping off Josh at the medical bay, the staff filling his every need to keep him comfortable for the night. The other Autobots having convened in the meeting area, awaiting the return of their comrads.

"Maybe you _should_ have had the nurses clean you up a bit, Cat. Just to make sure there's nothing major -" Mikaela tried to encourage her friend.

"Nothing doing," Cat interrupted, "It's just dried blood, the cuts are probably already almost fully healed," She looked to her two teenaged friends, "You two are almost as bad as the Autobots!"

"Just trying to do what we can," Sam chuckled.

"So besides getting into trouble, what've you been up to?" Mikaela asked.

"This and that I guess... Oh! Before you guys go, you should get a chance to really take a look at the new 'Christine'!"

"No way in hell are you getting me near that thing!" Sam put his foot down on the matter.

Cat laughed, "I told you, Sam. It was just a blown fuse. The car isn't really alive!"

"Hey listen, when your car, which seems perfectly normal, suddenly changes into a twenty foot tall robot out of nowhere, then I'll believe you know where I'm coming from," Sam accused, "Until then, I'm not going near that thing!"

"Oh please," Cat snickered, "You're glad that you have Bumblebee, and you know it!"

"Well yeah, I'm glad I he's around..." Sam replied.

Cat looked to the boy as if she knew he had something else on his mind on that subject, "But?"

Sam sighed and said, "But lately he's kind of... I don't know, it's like he's been walking on eggshells around me. Ever since that whole thing where that Allspark power was effecting me, he's been quiet. Instead of him begging me to go somewhere to 'see-the-sights' he's just been sitting in the garage. I hardly ever talk to him except when we're on our way to school or something."

"Hmm," Cat looked away. She knew why Bumblebee acted that way...

"Well I'm sure he'll get over it..." Cat encouraged.

"I hope so," Sam replied.

Cat's guilt ran deep at the sight of her friends being worried... It was, after all, her fault...

--

Sam and Mikaela were in their separate rooms, asleep, back at Cats' apartment. Cat, however, had been working to get her hair untangled of the crusty blood in the shower. After having fought a long battle, Cat was finally able to untangle her hair and scrub her entire body to a squeaky clean. She dressed and threw on her night robe, running her fingers through her hair an extra three or four times as she made her way, quietly, out to the kitchen. Rotten followed her down the hall, his claws clicking against the hardwood floors, only focused on following his owner.

Cat reached the kitchen and poked her head into the fridge, looking for a light snack that would fill her stomach enough to quiet the gurgling noises it was making. As she looked to the inside of the door, her eyes caught sight of something large and yellow. She looked up from the fridge and closed the door. Bumblebee had told them that he would come back as soon as all the Autobots had regrouped and been briefed, so Cat assumed that they had all met and discussed the nights events... Which meant that they probably knew everything at this point, especially if Evan had finally come to.

She scanned the Autobot with her left optic, noticing that his systems were running at their normal levels. If he had been in recharge, his systems would have slowed, which meant he was awake. Cat almost crept back to her room without saying a word, but she felt like there were some things that she needed to know.

Walking into the living room, she approached the large, 'garage' area where the Camaro sat in silence. Usually, Cat thought, he'd have a radio station keeping the apartment full of easy going sounds. He started doing that after he read somewhere on the "world wide web" that humans sleep easier with gentle music.

'I think he just likes the noise, though,' Cat smirked to herself.

Cat stopped just a few feet short of the Camaro and she crossed her arms, feeling a chill where she stood.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Cat," Bumblebee said as if he'd just realized she was near. Obviously Cat had broken his thoughts.

"So, did everyone get back okay?" Cat asked.

Bumblebee took a moment before he decided to transform into his bipedal mode. Cat backed up a little to make sure he had plenty of room to do so. She'd lived with the Autobots and knew them very well for so long, but it always amazed her at how easily they could change forms the way they did.

Once Bumblebee had changed forms completely, he sat down on the floor and looked down to Cat, "Yes, everyone is back safely. They could not find Barricade, once again."

Cat looked down at Rotten with a small nod, "Yeah, I figured he'd hide..."

"Shouldn't you be resting? The others are going to want to know your side of tonight's events early," he asked.

Cat looked over to a clock which sat on her mantle next to Five's teddy bear. She looked back to her friend and said, "It's four-thirty in the morning, Bee. At this point I doubt 'early' will be early enough," she sat down on a nearby chair, Rotten laying down on the floor once he knew where Cat had settled at.

"Anyway, I'm sure between Josh and Evan, they'll get most of the story," Cat added.

"Josh was asleep by the time Optimus returned, and the other boy has not yet awakened," Bee advised.

"Oh," Cat was surprised that Evan hadn't already been awake and told them everything. But she also knew that the longer he stayed asleep, the longer she could put off trying to explain everything.

Bumblebee sat in silence for a moment, wondering why Cat looked so worried, "Is something the matter?"

Cat looked up to the yellow Autobot, trying to avoid his azure optics as they looked over her.

"I don't know... Tonight just took a lot out of me I guess..." she thought for a second before asking, "How about you?"

Bumblebee's head tilted in the 'huh?' sort of way.

"Sam tells me that you haven't been yourself for a while, what's up?" Cat asked.

Bumblebee was the one to avoid Cats' eyes this time. He shrugged and turned in a different direction, sitting with his back to Cat.

Cat frowned and walked over, climbing up Bumblebee's leg, surprising him. She clung to his armor until she reached his knee joint and she sat down, facing her friend.

"I know how you feel..." She said in a soft voice.

Bumblebee tilted his head at her, wondering if she was saying what he thought she was.

"It's my fault... I didn't know that I had part of the Allsparks power, and how it would affect anyone who had been in contact with it... I mean I guess I shouldn't think that it's my fault but it is..." She explained.

Bumblebee shook his head slightly, "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Sure I do... I blame myself for all the times that I lost control and nearly killed all of you. And when I realized that I had effected one of the kids..." she paused for a moment, briging her own knees up to her chest and putting her arms around them, "You have no idea how many times I've contemplated leaving, Bee..."

Bumblebee looked to Cat with surprise, "Leave? As in leave the Dam?"

Cat nodded, "Sure. I keep wondering if it's too dangerous for me to be here. If I have another nightmare, I could lose total control and wipe out the Dam. And what if I went to visit you guys and the same thing happened? I'd never be able to overlook hurting or killing any of you..."

"Where could you possibly go?" Bumblebee asked.

"I'm not sure," she shrugged, "Probably take everything that's valuable and get halfway across the country at the least."

"So, once you do that everyone around you will be safe?" Bee asked.

"Well... No, but-"

"You've wiped out the power at the Dam, and you doubt that it'll happen in any city of humans that you move to?"

"... I guess not... But I'll be away from all of you, and that's what's important," Cat responded.

Bumblebee shook his head, "There's no one here that is afraid you will harm any of us."

Cat scoffed, "Sure, not you or the others. But you should see some of the dirty looks that I get from the other staff members here from time to time. It doesn't bother me that they do that, but it reminds me of what I'm capable of doing. Or rather, what I'm _incapable_ of doing..."

"You will learn, in time, how to control this. Until then, no one wants you to leave!" he encouraged.

Cat looked up to him with an unsure expression, "Really?"

Bumblebee nodded, bringing a finger under Cats' chin to make her keep her eyes to his optics, "No one here is afraid of you, Cat."

Cat smiled, "Yeah.. Kind of like the same way Sam and Mikaela aren't afraid of you!"

Bumblebee suddenly pulled his hand back, looking away from Cat.

"Sam doesn't blame you, Bee. And he's not afraid of you," She tilted her head so her gaze met his.

"No one knew why he was having those nightmares, and I doubt I could have helped him. He knows that you had no control over it, and he also understands why you had to leave. He's okay now, and he wants you to be okay too," Cat finished.

"...Humans are just so much more complex than I imagined..."

"Yeah, tell me about it... I'm a human, and I've got no clue how I'm supposed to act," She smiled, "But I'm sure of one thing. If you keep putting distance between someone, eventually they'll push you away for good."

Bumblebee couldn't deny it. Cat was right. When he looked in her direction, she was gone, not even around the apartment. Hearing Rotten's claws, once again, clicking as he went to meet his owner at the entrance of the hallway, Bee spotted Cat as she looked back towards him and smiled.

"So just be yourself, okay?" Cat said lastly before she and the large pup disappeared down the hallway.

Bumblebee's faceplates turned into a slight smirk, "For as much trouble as you get into, you're awefully clever," he whispered before changing back into his alt Camaro form. The radio flipped through the stations before finding a station which played gentle tones.

--

Early in the afternoon, Ratchet and the medical staff were watching over Evan carefully, waiting for the boy to come to. Just moments ago, the other boy, Josh, had finally gotten up from well over the recommended hours of sleep, and was being taken to the cafeteria for "breakfast". Ratchet couldn't understand how a human could possibly call it 'breakfast' when it was obviously not the morning hours, but he shrugged it off and continued his normal routine, watching over his patient carefully. While checking over Evan's stats, Prowl walked into the med bay.

"Hello Prowl, what can I do for you?" Ratchet asked.

"Good afternoon. I was checking to see if the boy had regained himself yet."

"Not yet. He has a concussion, so it may take some time. Although Peterson believes he should wake at anytime," the medic responded.

"I see. Would it be all right with you if I asked the other human a few questions?" Prowl asked, looking around the medical facility to see if Josh was still asleep on one of the beds.

"I wouldn't mind, except he's been taken to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I can let you know when he's brought back, if you'd like," Ratchet offered.

"Yes, thank you. I'd like to get a full report on all parties involved with the destruction in Boulder City as soon as possible. Optimus and I are to talk with Catherine as soon as she retrieves her repaired arm from Wheeljack," Prowl explained.

Ratchet gave a slight scoff and replied, "You'd probably be better off just asking these two and Mirage..."

Prowl looked to the medic with an unsuprised expression, "You do not believe that she will give us a truthful statement?"

"Oh, I believe she'll tell you the truth," he corrected, "What she _does_ tell you anyway. What she _doesn't_ tell you, well, that's another matter in itself..."

Prowl didn't respond. He knew, as well as Ratchet, that this might have been the case. He was also aware that unless Cat was willing to spill the beans on everything she knew, they may be hidden in the dark once again. And if they were in the dark over something that could possibly be destructive, they may not make it in time to save her or anyone else involved.

"Wait just a moment," Prowl was shaken from thought by a sudden, strange tone of the medic.

"Is there a problem?" the tactician noticed Ratchet examining Evan very closely.

"I've... seemed to have missed something..." he replied, just before turning back to his friend, "I believe I know why Barricade is after this boy..."

"Ohh god..." The two turned to see that Evan was waking.

"What the hell happened?" Evan tossed and turned before bringing up his hands to hold the sides of his head, "Who put this vice on me?!"

"You have a concussion. You should probably try and rest for a little while longer," Ratchet advised.

"Who could possibly rest with a migraine as big as thi-" before finishing his sentence, Evan opened his eyes, bright lights along with blurry figures which towered, what seemed like, hundreds of feet above where he laid.

"Who are you?" he asked with sudden haste.

"My name is Ratchet, and this is Prowl," the medic introduced, knowing that this needed to go as smoothly as possibly otherwise -

At that moment Evans vision focused and he saw the two giants staring down at him, "ROBOTS!" he jumped up to his feet at a bit of a stagger.

"It's all right," Prowl tried to control the situation, "We're not going to harm you."

"Like hell you're not!" Evan accused, looking around frantically, "Where's Seven?! What did you do with her?!"

"Seven?" Prowl looked to Ratchet who, at the moment, was more concerned with getting a grip on the problem at hand. Of course Prowl knew the Project number that Cat was originally named, but because Evan seemed to know her this way, it was likely that there was some sort of history with him and the sections of government.

"We haven't done anything with her, she and your other friend are all right, just calm down!"

Evan looked around wildly, noticing that there was a large door behind the two robots. Without another thought, he pulled the I.V. line from his leg and ran beneath the feet of Ratchet and Prowl, the two Autobots nearly falling over one another trying to keep from stepping on the boy as he ran between them and hit the door, opening it and running down the hallway, out of sight.

"I'll get him!" Prowl turned to pursue, but was stopped by the neon yellow medical officer.

"No! You could accidentally crush him under you if you miss grabbing him and fall! I'll alert the Dam's staff!"

--

It was Sunday afternoon and Cat had just watched Bumblebee and the kids take off back to Tranquility. She had said her goodbyes for until the next time she saw them and started on her way to Wheeljacks lab. She grimaced, because as soon as she was finished visiting the scientist, she was to meet with Optimus and Prowl to begin explaining the full details of last nights events.

"Good afternoon, Cat," she stopped on her trek and turned towards the other end of the hallway she was walking down, seeing Mirage, Jazz and the twins exiting the rec room.

"Hey guys," she looked to Mirage as the four approached, "You've seemed to fit in fairly quickly," she smiled.

"Yes, it's been good catching up with old friends whom I haven't seen in quite sometime," Mirage replied.

"Hey girl," Jazz started, "Where's yo arm?"

"Hm?" Cat looked to her right side, which was void of the false appendage, "Oh that, Wheeljack offered to fix it up for me. I'm going to meet him right now so I can get it and go talk to Optimus and Prowl."

"You look so.. odd.. without your arm," Sunstreak commented.

Cat smirked, "Yeah well, I can still kick your afts without it!"

As Cat was speaking she began walking again, about to turn the corner of the hall. She was paying more attention to her friends than she was where she was going, and just as she turned to look-

BANG Cat was struck by an oncoming body and flew to the ground, sliding across the floor on her back, the other person laying atop of her.

"What the hell?! Watch where you're going you-" Cat looked at the face of the person and saw that it was Evan. His brown eyes stared back at her blue and yellow ones with a look of pure astonishment, as their faces were nose to nose.

"It's you!"

"It's you!"

Cat and Evan chorused in unison. Cat frowning, while Evan smiled with a great amount of relief.

"You, uh... Need a moment alone, Cat?" Sideswipe asked, giggling and cackling amongst the twins and Jazz while Mirage just watched on in confusion. The three began making 'cat calls' at the two humans.

Cats face turned as red as a freshly bloomed rose, as she stared up at Evan, wanting nothing better than to tear the Autobots' vocalizers right off of them.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Cat demanded.

Evan looked up and saw the four robots, his face becoming even more frightened than before. He jumped up, sweeping Cat up into his arms and running off, "I'll get you out of here!"

Cat was shocked. Not only should this not have happened, but she noticed that Evan was having no difficulty, whatsoever, holding her. It was as if he wasn't paying any mind to the fact that she weighed more than he should have been able to handle.

The four Autobots stood, they themselves borderlining astonished.

"Did... Did that just happen?" Sideswipe asked.

Mirage was completely oblivious as to what the others were talking about, "What's wrong?"

"Well it's... There's no human, alive, that can pick Cat up! She weighs more than four of that kid!" Jazz explained, none of them moving, still deeply profounded.

Just as Evan turned a corner and disappeared out of their sight, they all heard, "_PUT_.. _ME_.. _DOWN_!"

--

You know the drill. If I leave a cliffhanger, I don't leave a Chapter Teaser. Sorry!


	32. One of Us?

Hey guys! And how have you wonderful readers been? Me? Just trying to get past having to deal with some login problems... It's been a lot of fun... Anyway, I'll try to get to changing my profile like I should to keep it nice and updated. Really, I guess I should just wait to post this, but I've got it fixed to how I want it (if there are any drop-offs of statements or misspelled words, let me know and I'll take care of it).

Anywho:

FORD B: I didn't see it in the IMAX, but I heard it was awesome! The movie itself was pretty cool, glad I got to see it, and I've heard that it comes out on DVD in October so, yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat, and any aforementioned character not copyrighted or associated with Hasbro.

Enjoy!

--

"I said, put me down!" Cat ordered, Evan turning around every corner he saw to try and "confuse" the robots.

"We've got to find Josh and get away from here!" Evan acted as though he hadn't heard a word of what Cat was saying. He slipped and nearly lost his footing as he sped past some of the human technicians in the large hallways.

"You're going to get us _killed_!" Cat said in response to the near accident.

"We'll be _killed_ if we stay!" Evan replied.

"Are you dumb or deaf?! No one's in danger here!" Cat found it difficult to struggle with only one good arm to swing with.

Just as he turned another corner, he caught sight of another human walking along the wall. Before he could do anything, he collided with him, Cat flying out of his arms and hitting the floor just a few feet away from where him and the other man landed. Cat could feel her, already sore, muscles cry out as she slowly moved over onto her side and pushed herself up on her left arm.

Clenching her teeth, Cat growled, "Stupid kid... Should have just listened to me and you wouldn't have -"

Cat looked over to Evan who was lying still on the floor, the technician sitting up and rubbing his head in pain. What made Cat stop her tracks wasn't the fact that Evan wasn't moving, it was something that caught her eye. She crawled the several feet over to the boy and turned him over on his back. His arm had a slight tear in the skin but... it wasn't bleeding... She picked up his arm, carefully, and examined the fresh tear. Something silvery metallic glittered with the reflection of the overhead lights.

"What the hell..." Cat whispered as she overlooked what looked to be... But it couldn't have been...

--

Mirage, Jazz and the twins stood in place just after watching Evan carry Cat off helplessly.

"Should we like... Do something?" Sunny asked.

"What could we possibly do that Cat can't handle on her own?" Sideswipe replied.

"Good point..." The yellow twin shrugged.

_-Lieutenant-_ Optimus' voice channeled into Jazz's communication circuits.

_-Speaking- _ Jazz responded.

_-Ratchet has just informed me that Evan has fled from the medical bay. I'm going to need your help to locate him-_

_-Won't be a problem Optimus. He just took off with Cat. She should be able to take care o' it- _ Jazz smirked.

_-He... Took off with her?-_

_-Yeah. He ran into her and when he saw us he picked her up and ran off with 'er. I'm sho Cat's taken care o' it by now.-_

_-Jazz, I think there is something you should also know about the boy that Ratchet just informed me about...-_

"He must have had an incoming message from someone," Sideswipe commented as the three stared at Jazz.

Jazz was standing still as stone as he spoke to Optimus over his comm link. Well, at least he was until his head came up, optics wide and with a somewhat disturbed look in them.

"Something the matter, Lieutenant?" Mirage asked.

"We gotta go help Cat!" the smaller, silver bot explained just before taking off down the hall in a hurry, the others following close behind.

--

Cat looked to Evans' face, shock and confusion spelled out on hers. Evan fluttered his eyes open as his mind struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Cat dropped his arm and pushed herself across the floor, her back to the wall. The male technician stared at Cat for a moment. Terror was evident on her face, but he couldn't understand why. He went to Evans' side and helped the younger boy sit up.

"You all right?" the technician asked.

"Uh.. Yeah, I think so... What happened with-" he suddenly remembered what had happened and why. His mind shifted back into high gear as he searched around, spotting Cat. He was about to turn and look for the robots, just in case they had been followed, but noticed how she was staring at him. She kept her back to the wall, sitting with her knees in front of her chest, and her arms to her sides.

"Who are you?!" Cat yelled, not moving so much as an inch.

"Who am I?" Evans face scrunched into a confused expression, "What are you talking about?" he stood, but saw something out of the corner of his eye as he was helped up. Looking to his right arm, he saw the tear in his skin, exposing metal and circuitry underneath, "Oh... Well... I guess it's hard to explain, "he tried to speak as he tucked the small flap of 'skin' back into its spot.

Not a moment too soon, there was a sudden shake in the ground, signifying the arrival of not just the four Autobots that Cat had met a moment ago, but also Optimus, Ironhide and Bluestreak. They surrounded the three humans, Evan suddenly twisting and turning, looking for an escape. Sunny was the first to nab Cat, picking her up fairly quickly and holding her at what he believed was a safe distance from the possible kidnapper.

"Take it easy, now. It's all right!" the man somewhat eased Evans urge to try and run again.

"What the hell _are_ all of you?!" Evan shouted.

Optimus knelt down to the humans' level, "We are Autobots, and you have my word that no one, here, will harm you," he tried to be as delicate as possible, not wanting to shock the boy anymore than he already appeared to be.

"Dude! You're awake!" Josh yelled happily as he ran towards Evan, "Scuse me, large dude," he pardoned himself as he got around Optimus, the medical assistant who had been escourting Josh also walked into the little scene.

"Josh?" Evan asked, flabbergasted to see his friend, "You're okay?"

"Yeah, man! They really know how to make a guy feel at home," Josh said with a slight 'burp' at the end.

Evan could smell the food on Joshs' breath. It smelled like... bratwurst... Beer brats even! Just the idea of biting into one of those juicy, tender, smokey dogs made Evan-

-guuuuurgle-

Everyone in the hallway stopped what they were doing trying to accomplish, either blocking the hall, or trying to explain what was going on. They all stared at Evan, even Cat. His face blushed as he looked to everyone around him.

"...I'm hungry...."

--

It had been days since he'd eatan a full meal, but now Evan was stuffing every ounce of food from the plate into his mouth. Every mouthful was bliss. The bratwurst was tender and juicy, the garnishings were freshly diced over top of it, there was a whole buffet of side dishes and the freshly baked chocolate cake was the best since it had more frosting on it than actual cake. It was almost as if this meal had been taylored to his specific tastes. After he lost his job he'd taken extra precaution to make every bite of food in the cabinets last longer than they were supposed to. And now, he was eating a hot, delicious, juicy meal, and he wasn't holding anything back. He slurped his drink, crammed every little bit of food into his mouth that he could, and he didn't care who or _what_ was watching. Once he finished, he sat back in his seat and let out an exasperated sigh. A sigh that was filled with complete, and utter relief.

"Yeah," Josh laughed, "That's what I did too."

Evan smiled and said, "I've never known cafeteria food to taste so good!"

"It doesn't," the medical assistant replied with wide eyes, "I don't think you actually _tasted_ what you just ate!"

"Well," Josh started, "When you've lived not knowing where your next meal is, you look at food in a whole, different perspective."

"Yeah," Evan agreed as he scraped up the last remainder of food and crumbs left on his plate, "I'm still trying to figure out what you made the other night.."

Josh shrugged, "It was only a few weeks past the expiration date. Whatever it was, it sure as hell didn't taste like food.."

"I say it was mold!" Evan declared.

"No," Josh shook his head, "I've tasted mold, this wasn't as... furry..."

The assistant fought back a sudden urge to vomit and said, "At any rate, I'm glad you're both feeling better. It'll make it easier for you to answer some questions on a full stomach."

Evan and Josh stared at the man, "Questions?" Evan asked.

"Yes. They're going to need to know what happened last night in your city," the man answered.

"... Who's going to be asking the questions?" Evan asked. He was sure he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Hmm," the man looked up to the ceiling in thought, "I imagine that Prowl will. Him or Optimus... Or both. But one of them will just need to know everything that you saw."

"So it uh..." Evan stared across the room as he watched Sunstreaker and Sideswipe walk through the stadium-sized cafeteria, "It has to be one of them?"

"Well," the assistant sighed as he played with his blackberry, "They sort of run the dam. I mean, we have our district and regional managers who report to the President and the Secretary of Defense, but Optimus is the leader and he basically tends to everything that runs here. He even overlooks the human staff to ensure everyone is doing as they're supposed to. Prowl is our top Defense for the dam. And he's very good at his job. That guy knows every inner-workings that happens here, and he reports directly to Optimus."

"Which one is the one that _attacked_ us, though?" Evan spat, thinking that he'd prove the point that the robots couldn't have been as well-intentioned as they appeared to be.

"Barricade?" The assistant looked up from his handheld device, "He's not an Autobot, he's a Decepticon."

"Decepti..con?" Evan asked.

"Yes, Decepticon. They're in a bit of a war with the Autobots. The Decepticons came to Earth looking for the source of life, called the 'Allspark'. The Autobots came as well, but they're set on protecting human life. The Allspark was destroyed, but the two opposing sides are still waging war against one another, which is why the Autobots are working so closely with the government," the assistant replied.

"Okay, so if these Auto-things are so set on helping us out, and they're so advanced, why don't they know what the Decepti-things were up to?" Evan asked, "I mean, they really don't know anything?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I mean, assuming it has nothing to do with Catherine, herself, other than that we're not sure what they want with the two of you."

"Catherine?" Josh asked, "Who's that?"

The medical assistant stopped playing with his electronic and looked to the boys with a strange, confused look. The two stared back at him in the same fashion.

"Catherine... The girl? The one who was with you? Yellow eye, metal arm... Can't really miss her..."

"Oh! You mean Seven?" Evan asked.

"Ah," the assistant realized what was going on, "She hasn't been called that in quite sometime. Her name is Catherine Andrews now. She was named, in part, by the two teenagers whom you met last night as well."

"Teenagers?" Evan looked to Josh.

"Oh, right! You didn't meet them. They had to leave this morning before I got up, so I barely met them myself," he turned to the assistant, "They named her?"

The man nodded, "That's right. They named her 'Catherine'. I believe they call her 'Cat' for short."

"If they gave her a first name, how'd she get her last name?" Evan asked.

The assistant shrugged, "I'm newer here, so I really haven't learned much, but I've asked a few people that, too. I mean, I haven't ever asked the Autobots, but no one else seems to know."

"So... umm.." Josh was totally lost," Why did those two name her in the first place?"

Evan didn't dare answer. He'd known, for years, that she existed, but he never talked to his parents about her. Every time he tried, when he was younger, they would get angry with him, or just change the conversation completely.... That and... he'd never actually told Josh anything about her...

"That's quite a story there.." The man sighed, thinking about how he could go about explaining it, when his device jingled a merry little tone. He looked straight to it, reading a message that had just been sent to him.

"Well," he said as he pocketed the phone, "It appears that you are already needed in the meeting room. You should probably ask one of the Autobots to tell you about Catherine. I doubt I could give you the full story the way they can."

Evan and Josh nodded as they got up from their table to follow the man to the meeting place.

--

Cat was sitting in Wheeljack's lab on one of his worktables. She was joined by Optimus, Prowl, Ironhide and Wheeljack of course.

"This will have to work for now," Jack handed her the finished product of her newly repaired arm, "We're going to have to remake this out of a stronger material if it's to withstand battle damage."

Cat accepted the arm. She wasn't in a very pleasant mood, so she couldn't even give the scientist an acknowledgement. She stared at the limb for a moment, somewhat lost in thought.

"Cat?" Prowl asked.

Shaken from her thoughts, Cat looked up to the four, her eyes not meeting any of their own gazes.

"Sorry..." she proceeded with attaching the arm to the screw-in lock on the socket of her right shoulder. She stopped and closed her eyes for the next part.

-Click- she locked the arm into place, her nerves lighting on fire through the entire right side of her torso. The searing pain didn't waiver, once. It was the whole reason why she didn't want Ratchet or even any of the human engineers to touch it if it were broken. In order for them to repair it, she would have to remove it. Disconnecting it wasn't all that terrible, but then she would have to reattach it, causing this reaction to her nerves as they were, once again, brought back to life in order for them to work the fine motor skills in the false arm.

"Should I send for something to-" Wheeljack started.

"No.." Cat replied bluntly through clenched teeth, "Unless you put me out for a couple of days straight, nothing can stop the pain... Let's just get on with this..."

Jack nodded and turned to Optimus, "That's all I can do for now, sir."

"Thank you, Wheeljack," Optimus aknowledged, looking down to Cat, "All right, why don't you start from the beginning?"

Cat could tell that Optimus was trying to be as patient as possible, and she knew that unless she was completely open with her statement, there would always be the doubt that would lay as a barrier between her and her most trusted friends.

"Okay... Here it is..."

-Moments later-

"And then Barricade left just before you got there... But I already told you that part..." Cat finished her story.

"Do you believe that you are the one who initiated the Allspark energy?" Prowl asked as though he were interrogating a suspect, but then again, Cat already knew his mannerisms were as such.

"I don't know... Really I don't... To be honest, I don't think I want to know for sure. I wish I hadn't ever laid a finger on that stupid piece of metal..." Cat responded.

"The past isn't something we can really debate about now, Cat, "Optimus reminded.

"I know. I'm just tired of waiting to finally get a handle on my life."

"Eventually you will, I'm sure of it, but for now, you're going to have to learn one step at a time," the leader advised.

Cat nodded and looked up to the two Autobots, "Are we done, now?"

"I'm not sure, are we?" Prowl asked.

"Well, um.. I'd like to be," Cat smiled a sparkly, wide-eyed smile.

"We're done, as long as you've told us everything you know," Prowl had the amazing ability to look past Cat's sweet little looks that usually got her out of trouble with the others... And she hated him for it...

"It's everything from beginning to end, cross my heart!" Cat promised.

Prowl and Optimus held fast for a moment, both questioning whether it was safe to leave it at that or pursue the issue any further. Cats sweet and innocent look faded from her face as she stared up at the two Autobots. She looked away from them, staring down at the floor and wishing a random portal would open so she could jump through it.

"Really, that's it..." Cat said truthfully.

Optimus nodded, reluctantly, and spoke, "All right, Cat. You can leave."

Cat felt the pressure of anxiety that was building up in the pit of her stomach slowly deflate. She hopped off of the table and began walking towards the door.

"Just one more thing, Catherine," Prowl stopped her as Cat turned slowly and looked up to the tactician.

"..Y-Yeah?" she asked.

"This boy, Evan Shaw, seems to have two false arms, the same design as yours," Prowl pointed out.

"Two?!" Cat had seen the one arm, sure, but now he had two? Now she really wanted to know what was behind it..

The strategist nodded, "Yes. My question to you, is whether or not you believe that any of the original seven projects could still be alive?"

Cat felt as though she had taken a sudden blow to the gut, as the wind left her lungs in a hurry. Her jaw dropped a little but no words found their way out of her mouth, and her heart nearly came to a halt... Could any of them have been alive?... One and Two were killed in a human creamatory, Three, Four and Six were all killed during the attempted escape, and Five.... Cat reached her left hand up to her eye and covered it as though she were coveting it close to her. It, as well as her two, humans legs... They were all that was left of Five...

Cat's mind switched gears and she frowned, looking back up to Prowl and Optimus, who were closely watching her as they awaited an answer.

"They're dead... You should know that by now.."

"The reason I ask, is that this boy already knew you by your first given identification. That, and your sister, Five, had been restructured after her first death."

Cat glared up at the tactician, "What are you getting at?"

"What if one of the other projects has survived, and perhaps you just don't recognize him?" Prowl asked.

"He's not one of us..." Cat seethed. Prowl recognized the look she gave him. She knew something more, and she was holding back. She was becoming upset, because it was a subject that she would rather have not spoken of.

"No! There's no way, in hell, that he's one of us!" Cat yelled, "They're DEAD! You hear me?! They're ALL DEAD!"

"Easy, Cat," Optimus tried to calm the young woman.

Cat stormed from the lab, threatening anyone who came too close to her, the technicians holding their clipboards up in defense and backing up against the walls.

"Nice going, Prowl," Ironhide sneered, "Maybe the next time you should tell Bumblebee that you've run over Sam!"

"Why would I-" Prowl started.

"Nevermind, Prowl," Optimus strode past the two and into the hall, looking both directions before spotting the girl, "Cat!"

_-Help me, Seven- _ Cat suddenly saw the image of Five reaching out to her while she lay on the elevator floor, dying. _-Please, Seven..-_

"No..." Cat shook her head, "They're all dead!" Images of her "Project family" appeared in her mind, each one of them. None stood out the most next to the images of Five, her bloody fingers reaching for Cat, begging for help.

Optimus and Ironhide walked out into the hall behind Optimus, watching as Cat continued on her rampage, terrorizing any who crossed her path. When she started to turn the corner, she stopped in her tracks, nearly running back into Evan, Josh, and the assistant who was escorting them.

"Whao!" Josh reared back in response to nearly being knocked over.

Cat looked from person to person until her eyes met with Evans. She gave him a long, hard stare.

"Andrews!" Optimus ordered, fearing that she may, actually, attack him without provocation.

Cat brought up her right hand and pointed a finger in Evan's face, "You," she warned, "Stay away from me..." And with that, she swiftly moved around the group and continued down the hall.

"What the hell was _that_ about?" Josh scratched his head.

Evan watched Cat as she fled from the area. He was just as confused as his friend and replied, "...I don't know..."

--

Chapter Teaser!

After calming Cat down, the next order of business seems to be solving the puzzle as to why and how Evan Shaw has come across his very own pair of "Automail" as they call it. But is he willing to divulge the details? Could he possibly be a restructured, long-lost Project? Or is he just a victim of his parents own experimentations? And of course, the next puzzle is... What else does our friend, Cat, know?


	33. Tightlipped

Hey guys, sorry for being late on updating! But a promise is a promise, so here's what I got for ya!

FORD B: Gotta keep you guessing!

Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, I own Cat and all the other associated OC's. Stealing or ripping off these characters is a bad idea, because I WILL call you out... And I HAVE called some out...

--

Evan was hardly paying any attention to what was going on around him. His thoughts strayed away from the conversation the robots were having with him and Josh. For the moment, though, they were more interested in asking his friend his side of the story, so Evan had a moment to mull over his own thoughts. The only thing he could focus on was Cat... He was sure that he hadn't done anything wrong to her. He hadn't said anything wrong... So why was she so upset?

_-You... Stay away from me...-_

Her facial features told him that she was truly serious, and he felt even more conflicted about her, alongside his already conflicted feelings about giant robots who were interrogating him. His stomach churned with the, still digesting, food threatening to come back to greet him. Even though his stomach was full for once, the rest of his life felt as though it were still crumbling down around him. Was there anything left of his clothing and personal items in the destroyed apartment? Where were they going to stay long-term after all of this calmed down? All of these thoughts consumed his mind. That was until-

"-Evan?" The deep voice of this 'Optimus' guy suddenly broke Evans thoughts.

The boy looked up to the azure optics of the robot that stood over nearly forty foot taller than him, "Yeah?"

"Perhaps we should excuse Josh, at this point," Evan suddenly noticed the similarities between this other robot, and the one that attacked him.

Optimus looked down at the medical assistant, "Why don't you escort him back to the med bay?"

The assistant nodded and turned to Josh, "Let's see if we can find you better accommodations."

Josh sighed, "Good, that cot was okay, but it's killer on the back!"

Evan watched as his friend abandoned him. As the doors closed to the room, the air suddenly changed. He could feel the focus go directly to him, though he wished it hadn't...

"Evan," he looked up to the voice that spoke. The "leader" of this group was speaking to him now.

"Y-Yeah? You want to know about the thing that attacked us, right?"

"No," the other spoke, "We're fairly satisfied with the stories we've already gotten from Josh and Cat."

"T-Then what do you want from me?" Evan was suddenly unsure why he was even there, if they weren't interested in his side of the story.

"Firstly I'd like to ask you if-" The police cruiser designed one was cut off.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves, more properly first?" the large one interrupted, "My name is Optimus Prime, and this is my tactician specialist Prowl," Prowl nodded to confirm," and standing behind you is my weapons specialist, Ironhide," Ironhide nodded as well, not in his usual joking mood.

''Okay," Evan acknowledged, "So what do you want?"

"We need to know a little about your background," Optimus answered, noticing the irritation in the young humans voice.

"Can you be a little more specific?" Evan frowned, "I'm twenty-one, there's a lot of stuff in my background.."

"You know," Ironhide started, "Whether or not you trust us has no bearing on what we're doing here. So why don't you just cool it with the attitude and help us out?"

"Help _you_ out?" Evan spat, "One minute I've got a place, the next minute it's destroyed, and I've nothing but the clothes on my back! Not to mention I've apparently pissed off someone who saved my life, and I have no idea how I did it, and you want me to help you?!"

"We understand your plight, and promise to aid you in anything you need, but right now we just need to ask you a few questions,"Optimus was growing just as agitated as the boy.

Evan rolled his eyes, "Like?"

"Let's start with the fact that you have two limbs that have been fabricated to look natural?" Prowl asked.

Evans head shot up in shock. His jaw was dropped as he asked, "How... How did you know about that?... Did.. Did she tell you?"

"You mean, Catherine?" Prowl asked, an optic ridge raising.

"If that's what her name is now, yeah..." Evan answered solemnly.

"So she knew about them all along," Ironhide was shocked. Just a moment ago, he was completely confident that Cat had been telling the truth when she responded the way she did about Evan having more than one metal appendage.

"All along?" Evan asked, "No, she... She saw the one back in the hall... She wouldn't come near me after she saw it..."

"Ah, that explains it," Optimus realized.

"That probably freaked the kid out when she saw it," Ironhide commented.

"Which is why she got so upset with me when I mentioned the possibility of another project being alive," Prowl also realized.

Optimus nodded slightly but looked down to Evan, "But how did you acquire those arms of yours?"

Evan went straight from calm to annoyed once more, "That's really none of your business, don't you think? I mean, ask me whatever you want about what happened back in town, but my body is my own problem, which makes it no concern of yours!"

"I disagree," Ratchet walked in, Doctor Peterson along his side, "While you're under the care of our medical crew, your problems are our problems."

Evan didn't know who this new, neon yellow, robot was, but he glared at him nonetheless, "You don't need to know my history.. I know how the medical practice works, as long as I don't have any allergies or conditions, you don't need to know anything else.."

"So I'm assuming you have no intentions of telling us how you knew Catherine by her project name either?" Prowl asked.

Evans face looked down to the floor as his eyes strayed, "...No, I don't think I should tell you..."

"And why not?" Optimus asked, he was willing to be patient, but now the boy clearly indicated that he wasn't going to inform them of some of the most crucial information. If they didn't know what this boy knew, it could possibly mean losing any leads they could get on the whereabouts of Sector Eleven, or even to the reasons why Barricade followed him.

"Why do you need to know, so badly, anyway?!" Evan yelled.

"The information you hold may very well aid us in the reason why Barricade attacked you and your friend," Ratchet informed him.

"Or even to information regarding a special interests group that could cause us some problems..." Optimus added.

Evan scoffed, "I doubt anything I know would help you..."

"Why don't you just tell us, then, and let us decide if that's the case?" Prowl asked.

"My dad swore me to secrecy about everything I know. I made a promise to him, and I'm not about to break that promise," Evan answered, crossing his arms and putting his foot down on the matter entirely.

"If I'm not mistaken," Ratchet thought aloud, "Your parental guardians are deceased, are they not?"

Evan's eyes grew wide and he stared back up at Ratchet, a burning, sickening feeling in his stomach, "How do you know that?"

"It's quite obvious," Ratchet informed him, "You and your friend were living on your own, barely surviving... That and I managed to get it out of the other boy."

"Josh told you?!" Evan was shocked! How could he have made such a blunder?!

"He told me that they were killed in an accident at their jobsite, but he didn't seem to know where that was," Ratchet corrected the boy.

Evan sighed in relief, "That's because I never told him everything either..."

"Not even to your most trusted friend?" Prowl asked.

"I told you," Evan seethed, "My dad made me swear not to tell anyone about what he did."

"Fine," Prowl had had enough of this bantering.

"Fine?" Evan raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Did you believe that we had no way of getting this information without you telling us? Your Federal Bureau of Investigation is in partnership with our forces. There's, really, nothing we can't find out about you," Prowl answered.

"Good!" Evan jumped off of the human sized table of the meeting room in a flash, "Try and find out anything you want! I don't care!"

Evan had been taught, by his parents, that whoever wanted to know more about what they did, would try any method of psychology or intimidation to get information out of him. And this time, he wasn't about to just fall for any obstacle they were throwing.

"If you're not going to cooperate and tell us anything," Doctor Peterson offered, "then maybe you'd prefer coming with me to the medical bay and rest?"

"Fine, whatever," Evan agreed and walked out of the room and into the hallway, stopping to wait for the doctor to join him so he could be led away from this interrogation setting.

"I'll be there, shortly," Ratchet informed his associate.

Doctor Peterson nodded and met Evan in the hallway, leading him towards his medical facility.

"Why do you trust them?" Evan asked in a voice full of rage and frustration.

Doctor Peterson smiled and merely replied, "Some of us, around here, have agreed that those men back there are more trustworthy than most of the _humans_ we know."

Evan frowned, continuing to follow the doctor.

"He reminds me of someone..." Ratchet commented sarcastically.

Ironhide laughed, "Yeah, but at least he, outrightly, tells us what he thinks!"

"Agreed," Prowl nodded, "Cat doesn't even give us the benefit of knowing whether or not she wants to tell us what she knows.."

"Which is a problem," Optimus decided," that needs to be dealt with. I suppose I should take care of that."

"I'll go with you," Prowl started after the leader.

"No. You help the others take care of the necessary research. I will most likely have better luck if I talk to Cat alone," Optimus ordered as he left the meeting room, heading towards Cats apartment.

Ironhide sighed, "Guess that means you'll need help, Prowl?"

"I could probably take care of it on my own, but if you could, I may need an extra pair of optics," the tactician responded.

--

Cat paced back and forth in her apartment, Rotten following her with a happy pant, carrying his leash in his mouth, hoping his doting owner would pick up the hint. When Cat got to the one side of the apartment, Rotten would turn with her and continue to heel faithfully to her side.

"Some nerve.... He's not one of us.... Don't know what they're talking about...." Cat bantered to herself about what had just happened.

Rotten gave a small whine, trying to get Cat's attention, but even though she wasn't paying any attention to him, he still walked with her, keeping up with every step she took.

While Cat was having this conversation with herself, the sound of the doorbell buzzing made her stop in her tracks. Rotten looked to the door with his owner and dropped his leash, barking and sprinting towards the door. Cat stared at the garage entry for a moment before shaking her head in disdain and meeting Rotten at the door, hitting the control to lift the secured garage door. She knew better than to think that any human would try and approach her right now, so it was obvious that an Autobot was going to come to talk to her.

As the door opened, Cat caught sight of the flames pattern on Optimus's feet. She sighed and walked back to the kitchen, sitting down on one of the breakfast island stools.

"Surprise, surprise," Cat said sarcastically.

Optimus tried to carefully navigate stepping under the garage door while avoiding stepping on Rotten, who was barking excitedly. Cat rolled her eyes and ordered, "Rotten!" The dog stopped his welcome and looked back to his owner, "Come!" Cat pointed to her side. Rotten, gleefully, clicked and scratched his nails against the hardwood floors as he ran to obey the given order, sitting next to Cat and receiving a scratch behind the ears as a reward for listening. The Rottweiler laid down to settle from his happiness.

Optimus completely walked into the apartment and knelt down to Cat's level, "That was extraordinarily out of line for you," he got right to the point.

"Was it? I rather thought it was the proper response to your little theories..." Cat seethed.

"Keeping up this attitude of yours is only going to bring harsher punishment duty for you," Optimus warned, obviously not in the mood to go easy on anyone.

Cat scoffed and asked, "Exactly what did you come here for?"

"Mostly to just talk some sense into you," Optimus replied, "I just had a conversation with that boy, and he has the same attitude as you about giving needed information."

"Oh!" Cat shot up from her seat and opened the fridge, grabbing a drink, "Guess that makes him one of the other six projects too!" She slammed the door, "Quick! Someone get him to sign the contract and take the oath!"

"No," Optimus disagreed, "It doesn't make him anything related to you."

"Then what the hell do you call it?!" Cat sat back down, tapping the top of her soda can and opening it.

"I call it strange that neither you nor this other boy is telling us what we really need to know, and yet you're telling yourself that the fault is our own that nothing has been straightened out, when we're just trying to get to the bottom of all of this!" Optimus replied with a gruff tone.

"No, no no!" Cat waved a finger in front of her, "Don't turn all of this around on me!"

"I'm not turning anything on you!" Optimus defended, "I'm just trying to get all of the information straight!"

Cat laughed sarcastically, "Right, right! Ten minutes ago I'm a suspect being interrogated, and now we're best friends," she took a sip of her drink, "You're full of shit..."

"LOOK!" Optimus slammed a fist down in the living room, crushing the floorboards and causing Rotten to get up and run down the hall and into Cats bedroom, hiding under the sheets. Cat was surprised as well as she dropped her can to the floor of the kitchen and held onto the table from the waves of shock in the floor that nearly sent her flying off of her seat. "We wouldn't be here having this conversation if you would have just told us everything in the first place! We could be fighting against the problem instead of each other, but because you prefer not to include anything vital, we're blindly running in circles!"

Cat didn't say a word. Optimus just destroyed half of her living room in a fit of frustration, and she wasn't about to challenge him any further. She had suddenly become very aware that not only was he seriously upset with her, but he wasn't about to let her slide by with another lie or piece of misinformation.

"All you need to do is talk to us! That's all!" Optimus tried to calm himself as he spoke, "And all of this can be avoided!"

There was a pause, Cat could see, out of the corner of her eye, that technicians and dam workers were gathering around the open garage door.

"What do you want from me?" Cat spoke softer but in a growl.

Optimus's hologram appeared just next to her as she barely had a split second to react before he had her by the nape of her shirt, twisting it tightly into around his fist for a better grip, "Everything..."

"Everything?" Cat wasn't sure how much 'everything' really had to be.

"Everything you know, you're going to spill right now!" Optimus made it very clear what it was that he was going after, "Now," he let go of her shirt, "Tell me... Where did you meet Evan?"

Cat let out a sigh, "It was before you got here, old man... It doesn't make a difference.."

"Yes," Optimus disagreed, "It does..." His hologram sat across from Cat at the breakfast island, "And you're going to tell me all about it."

Cats eyes softened, "It's not easy to tell... I've tried to play it all off... Tried to make everyone think that I don't let get me down anymore, because every time something from my past stirs back up, I'm suddenly caught in the middle and I have to relive it..."

"I know..." Optimus's voice calmed as well, he suddenly felt as though maybe he was getting through to Cat.

"Yeah, okay, you know..." Cat used a little sarcasm as she tried to avoid his fatherly gaze.

"You've forgotten, "Optimus reminded, bringing Cat to look straight at him, "You've forgotten that myself, as well as every one of the Autobots here, have spent most or all of our lives living that very same existence. We have had to battle for our own rights in a war that's lasted longer than this solar system has been around. You never forget any of it, no one knows that better than we do. You're going to carry your past around with you for as long as you're alive."

"Peh," Cat shrugged, "And here I was thinking I could forget."

"Carry it with you, Cat. Carry it with you, and learn and grow from it..." Optimus advised, "But don't use it against those who are only trying to help you."

Cat looked away and nodded.

"Now tell me everything you know, and don't leave anything out."

--

Chapter Teaser!

Cat reveals the unknown details that she had kept to herself for so long.... and then gets the unexpected news that she'll be needing to make room in her apartment for her new roommates... This should be interesting...


	34. How we met

Hey! Bet you weren't expecting to see an update from me, of all people, huh? -wink- I've been working on a few chapters little by little and, finally, I've gotten the chance to update a piece of one! I've noticed that Fanfiction has gone through and taken out my little "-" to separate portions of the story.. so if it all runs together on this one, I'm sorry about that too..

FORD_B: Yeah, I figured it was about time to stop showing Optimus as the middle-man and start giving him better scenes lol Thanks!

girlrock250297: LOL

Enjoy!

The small child had curled herself into a tight ball to warm herself. The dark prison cell she had been locked into even smelled musty and cold, and even though it had never happened, she clung to the hope that someone would come and at least offer her a ratty old blanket that she could wrap around her chilled body. It had been several hours since she had seen a single human to even offer her a scrap of food or a sip of something cold to drink. It soured her thoughts as she realized everything Five had told her was right. Her older sister had explained to her, the day before, that the humans celebrated a holiday called "Christmas" and that most of them would probably be gone for a day or two, leaving a skeleton crew to take care of them. It was also known, among their small group of experimentation children, that the skeleton crew took even more terrible care for them than the regular shifters..

Her sky blue eyes shifted towards the security camera pointed directly into her darkened cell. She growled, knowing that she was being watched by the very people who cared nothing for her diminishing existence.. She sat up on the thin foam material "mattress" that was provided for her and put her back to the corner of the concrete wall, wrapping her metal arm around her knees and pulling them close to her, hoping that it would warm her small body. She wished, so much, that they would have, at least, left her in a cell with one of her siblings so she wouldn't have been so alone. Being alone, Seven knew, meant that her thoughts would stray where they shouldn't have.. They would stray as far as planning her escape the next moment that she had the chance to, however she knew that it was merely day dreaming.. She always dreamed, though, when she slept about what Five had described to her. She'd dream about seeing the sun, and feeling it's warmth envelope her body. She'd dream about what the outside world could have looked like. The long, vast, stretches of land and the tall red mountains that Five had told her about left Seven to believe that someday... she could see it too...

The sound of a door handle disengaging and releasing back into place suddenly scared the small girl. Her eyes darted towards the corner of the cell that the entrance to the room was closest. She sat, still as stone, wondering if they had come to spray her with a hose again to "clean" her, or if maybe one of them had taken pity on her pathetic form and decided to offer her a meal. The sounds of meek footsteps slowly approached. No, this wasn't the average footsteps of one of the technicians, it was... someone else...

"Daddy?" the small voice of a child rang out through the room in a scared tone.

Seven slowly crawled up from her spot on the foam mattress and stood up straight, stopping only to listen for the voice once more.. Was this one of her siblings? It didn't sound familiar, but then again she had never met the first two projects. Had one of them escaped from their enclosure?

"Hello?" a boy called out, as though he had possibly heard her movements.

Seven approached the entrance and placed her mechanical hand on the steel bars, "Who's there?"

The child walked to the front of the cell, Seven immediately seeing his facial features and realizing that he could not have been one of the other projects. She let go of the bars and shot back to the cold depths of her prison. The boy nearly had his face through the bars as she saw his light brown eyes scan the inside of the cage.

"Are you lost too?" he asked.

Seven snorted. Was this boy serious?

"Lost? I wish… If I were lost I'd at least make sure it wasn't in _this_ place…"

The little boy grasped at the bars himself and said, "Where's your mommy and daddy?"

Seven's voice soured. If this kid didn't know what she was, then he was _seriously_ lost...

"… I don't have parents…" she replied coldly.

The boy stared at her with an odd expression.

"You don't have parents? What kind of kid doesn't have a mommy and a daddy?" he asked.

Seven realized that this boy was no threat to her at all. He must have been one of the children of a technician and gotten separated. She, then, noticed that his stare had gone from her face down to her right arm. 'Here it comes...' she thought.

"Wow! What's _that_?" the little boy asked, startling Seven, "Is that one of those 'power glove' things from TV?"

Seven looked to her right hand and then glowered up back at the other child, "Who are you?…"

"My name's Evan… What's your name?" the boy asked.

"….Seven…" she replied.

He giggled and said, "No, I asked what your name was, not how old you were!"

"And I told you my name… It's Seven…" she snarled. She had always known that it was unusual for a human child to have such a name, but then again, according to her older sister they weren't really human.

"How old are you?" Evan asked.

"Six…" Seven replied.

"Me too! That's cool!… So… What are you doing in here by yourself?" Evan asked, looking around the innards of the laboratory.

"I was born here… And I'll die here too…" Seven sighed as she walked up closer to Evan.

"Die? Why would you die?" the small boy asked her, looking curious as to why she would ever say such a thing. Obviously he was never told what had gone on in this area of the Dam.

"Five says that eventually they're going to kill us… That we'll never get to even see the sun for our entire lifetime… We're experiments… Lab rats, you could even say…" Seven replied.

"Five? Who's that?"

Seven shook her head at the boys' ignorance and stepped into the light which barely covered the entrance to the cell. She approached Evan until her face was mere inches away from his. They stared at each other for a moment as if memorizing each others facial elements. Seven was at all sure what to make of this boy. Was he for real? Or was this just a scheme from the technicians to try and find someone that could befriend her and gain her trust? His wide eyes and confused expression told her that he was truly unaware of what he was into. He had a pure and innocent glow about him. Seven trusted her instincts that perhaps she could explain her plight to this boy and perhaps... perhaps he could even help her. She took a breath and as she began to speak, the sound of the metal doors bursting open startled both herself and Evan. The boy backed away from her to see who it was, however Seven lowered her head and let out a large sigh, knowing that her chances of being helped had just gone up in smoke.

"Evan! There you are! Do you know what kind of trouble I could get into for having you in here at all? Not to mention having you back in the restricted areas -" the man pressed forward until he stopped in his tracks, staring down at Seven.

"Oh… Hello Seven…" the man said with a frown.

Seven backed up into the shadows once again. There were no chances of this turning around now.. Evan went back to the cell, his hand outstretched through the bars towards the girl, begging her to return.

"No, wait! This is my daddy! He can help you!" Evan looked to his father, "Daddy you have to help her! She said that someone's going to _kill_ her and-"

"Don't bother…" Seven growled. She had seen this man before, and although she had never known him to treat her as badly as most of them had, she wasn't about to take the chance that he would start now..

The boys' father knelt down to his level and gave him a softened look. Seven had known that to be the look of shame and sorrow.

"What's she talking about daddy?" Evan looked as though he could start crying. Seven actually felt sorry for the boy.

"Son…" the man looked to Evan, "Remember when I told you that there were a lot of secrets here?"

The small boy nodded in reply.

"You can't tell _anyone_ about this little girl. Can you do that for me?" the man put a hand to his son's shoulder and looked dead into his eyes. Seven knew this method as a way to gain trust and confidence. Without a doubt this man was going to be able to talk Evan into not helping her.

"Not even mommy?" Evan asked, the girl noticing the salty tears building up in the boys' eyes.

"Well… Your mother knows about her too… But you can't tell anyone other than mommy or me… Okay? We could be in a lot of trouble if anyone outside of this room knew about her," the man encouraged.

Evan looked towards Seven as she turned away from him, trying to hold back her own tears of misery.

"I… I guess so…" Evan replied. Seven tightly shut her eyes, a single tear running down her face as she felt the acceptance that she would gain nothing from this encounter hit the pit of her stomach.

"That's my boy. Come on. Let's go," the man led the boy out of the room. Seven sighed, knowing that the cruelty of her fate to one day die in this hell was going to catch up to her; and that this was just another way to prove it.

A set of footsteps returned at a quickened pace, bringing Sevens' head back up in a flash, looking to see that Evan had returned.

"You're not going to die here! I don't know why, but I know that you're not going to die here! You're going to see the sun one day… I promise!" And with that, the boy had left as quickly as he had entered.

-End Flashback-

Cat had looked away from Optimus during her story. Her eyes were down to the floor as she spoke, "And the thing was... I believed him..."

"Did you ever see him again?" Optimus asked.

Cat shook her head, "Of course not... I was surprised that his father had gotten him in the lab. Family and friends were not at all permitted. I'm not sure how he managed it the first time, but it was also during a time when all of the upper management were at home with family, and not monitoring the lab. But his father... Well he was one of the few technicians that actually took decent care of me and the others. His mom would even sneak candy to me every now and then."

"So this is why he could not explain anything to us.. He was sworn not to, and knew the consequences that had been placed on anyone who did," Optimus surmised.

Cat nodded, "That's right. Revealing the big secret of us could have brought our lives to an end. I'm sure his father explained that more thoroughly to him later on."

"That must mean that their deaths can be accounted from -" Optimus began.

"Our little scheme to get the Allspark," Cat interrupted, "They were two of the few unlucky who didn't survive that little disaster.."

Optimus vented a sigh and looked at what he had done to Cat's living quarters, "I'll have this fixed for you."

"I appreciate that," Cat smirked, "You know, you guys keep breaking stuff in here and the government's going to have you cleaning the Dam to make up the difference."

Optimus gave a short laugh before turning to leave.

Cat sighed and stood up, walking back into her bedroom and finding a large bulge slightly moving around under the covers. She smiled and lifted the sheets, looking down to Rotten and saying, "You know I think you were less frightened of things as a puppy..."

The dog looked up at Cat with his small brown eyes, whining slightly.

Cat's smile diminished slightly as she sat down on the bed next to her furry friend. She stroked his back to calm him as he panted happily. Her thoughts suddenly went from comforting Rotten, to the problem at hand..

"It's always going to find me isn't it?" Cat asked rhetorically, Rotten turning to his owner as if questioning her.

"No matter how far I run, how much I try to push it all out of my mind... One way or another.. Someone or something from my past will always find me.. Find me and remind me of everything..." Cat sighed as she looked into the large, brown eyes of her dog. In a lot of ways she was hoping he could answer her, but she only continued scratching behind his ears to ease his own anxieties.

Optimus entered the medical lab, seeing only his CMO doing the every day tasks that he had become accustomed to in the daily life at the Dam.

"Where are the two boys?" Optimus asked, not seeing either of them in the lab.

"I've cleared Evan to leave the lab, and some of our assistants are taking them on a little tour of the perimeter," Ratchet replied before looking up to the leader, "Did you speak to Cat?"

"Of course I have.." Optimus replied with a small nod.

"What did you find out?" Ratchet asked. After all of the dead ends that the young humans had thrown at them, he was more than interested in knowing what it was that they were hiding.

"Apparently the boys' parents were technicians that took care of her as a child," Optimus replied.

Ratchet stopped his task, "... They worked here?"

Optimus nodded.

Ratchet suddenly realized why Cat held so much contempt for Evan, "I see...It makes quite a bit of sense now. This is not going to make anything easy."

"There's nothing we can do about it. In time, this too shall pass.. I hope.." Optimus commented.

"In the mean time, what are we to do with Evan and Josh?" Ratchet asked, afraid of what the answer was going to be.. for good reason..

Optimus vented a sigh. He knew, well enough, what the medical officer meant.. "We have no other choice.. They can't stay in the medical lab for the entire time they're here. That apartment is the only place in the Dam suitable for their needs since they're most likely going to be here for a while."

Ratchet grimaced, "You know.. Maybe they can stay in the lab.. I can have the nurses and technicians take care of their nourishment and entertainment if necessary-"

"No, Ratchet.. I'm not going to like this either. Now that I understand the past of Evan, I can't exactly ignore it.. But I can't have them living in the lab in case the beds are needed for a serious emergency, you know that just as well as I do," Optimus stood firm.

"Just.. Give her some time to adjust.. She will be needing it now that all of this has stirred back up," Ratchet almost pleaded.

Optimus almost gave a scoff, "I'm a little surprised. Usually you're the first one to say something along the lines of 'she'll get used to it' or something to that effect."

"Oh I know she'll get used to it, she has no other choice... It's only that I've just finished repairing those two humans, and I don't feel like putting in the effort to repair them again once she finds out about this... It's really more for me than anyone else.." Ratchet vented his own sigh, thinking about all the repairs the Dam will have to have once Cat DID find out about their little plans..

Optimus' face plates contorted into a smile, "For you, my friend, done."

"Thank you.." Ratchet nodded as he continued with his work.

-Chapter Teaser!-

Evan and Josh begin to settle in, but not before getting an earful from a certain little fighter. Everyone is trying their best to calm our friend, but the adjustment everyone was hoping for is more like pulling teeth, as it usually is. But one person will persist. One person wants to get closer and find out more, for his own past, his own stories. Will the added stress bring more hell unto our crew?


	35. Face to Face

Hello my friends! Long time no post, I know. It'll be like that, though, so don't get discouraged! As always:

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, I own Cat and all of the subsidiaries that come with her!

Ford_B: I definitely will keep up on it, I promise! Thank you for your long time support for my story!

And so... IT BEGINS!

FACE TO FACE

It had been just a little over a week since the incident in Boulder City. Evan and Josh had spent the week in, what seemed like, confinement at the Dam. The medical beds they had slept on were less than satisfying for a good nights' rest, as well as the fact that there was hardly anything for them to do. Evan finally settled on keeping himself busy with minor tasks that the medical crew needed help with; stocking the supply shelves, making coffee when it had run low, sweeping the floors; basically anything he could do to stay busy. They were, of course, permitted to leave the lab, the only thing really to do, though, was watch television and play a few of the games provided in the rec room. Josh was entirely entertained by everything provided, however Evan sat differently at their new home.

_"You... stay away from me!"_ It had plagued his mind all week. Barely sleeping, hardly every occupying his mind with anything else. She had left quite a mark on him since his arrival...

Evan had just barely woken from, yet another, cramped nights' sleep. His back pinched with pain from the terrible mattress provided. He moved a little and twisted one leg over the other to crack his back as well as stretch out the aches from a sleepless night. He stared up at the ceiling with his eyes barely open, his mind on the one thing that it had been on for a while now..

"Evan," Ratchet said surprisingly.

Ratchet, as he had gotten to know, was a very particular bot. He had grown to like Evan for his helpfulness and even Evan was glad to have the CMO around. Ratchet was rather good to him, taking care of his and Josh's every need. He even went to the length of making sure the cooks made special meals for him and Josh when they weren't in the mood for anything the kitchen had to offer.

"Yeah?" Evan's voice cracked with morning phlegm as he slowly sat himself up.

"You're awake rather early," Ratchet replied.

Evan gave a curt laugh, "These mattresses aren't really made for long-term usage are they?"

"No... I'm afraid they're not. I apologize if they are causing you any trouble but for now-" He began to apologize.

"Yeah I know... They're all you have..." Evan was already aware. Ratchet had apologized to him just about every day for the low-cost equipment they had on hand for them.

"It's fine," Evan waved off Ratchet's apology, "You said we should be getting a place of our own soon, right?"

"Well..." Ratchet fidgeted a little, "It would be nice, however the only place suitable is still... under construction," It wasn't really a lie, Evan could tell, but it did make him a little nervous as to what it was they had planned for the two. The Autobots had been very good to Evan and Josh, but how far did pleasantries go? It made him a little leery about what their intentions were for the long term, but what could he do now? He was under their hold, no matter if he felt disparaged about it or not.

"In the meantime," Ratchet changed the subject quickly, Evan could recognize it whatever species he was speaking to, "If you'd like to help us, we've received a shipment of supplies."

For once, all week, Evan felt as though he'd prefer the boredom of doing absolutely nothing, than the boredom of helping the medical crew, "I think I'll just walk around the Dam today. Is that all right?"

"Of course!" Ratchet said emphatically, "I would actually prefer seeing you out of the medical bay and exploring the Dam. You've managed to keep yourself tightly sealed in the lab this past week."

Evan cracked a small smile, "Guess I better see if the lounge is serving breakfast," he hopped out of bed and stretched, Ratchet watching as he did so, "See ya," Evan gave a short wave before trekking out of the lab.

"So why do you prefer him leaving verses helping in the lab? You're always complaining about needing the extra help?" Doctor Peterson smirked as he leaned on a nearby workstation.

Ratchet turned to his co-worker and said simply, "She's going to have to run into him sometime... Whether she likes it or not, he's here to stay..."

"That's what I thought," Peterson laughed.

Cat had managed to keep herself locked in her apartment almost all week. She had requested to Optimus to have her duties temporarily removed. He had been a little reluctant, but accepted her request. She was fairly surprised, to say the least, but was grateful for it anyway. Sam and Mikaela had been trying to talk some sense into her all week, back and forth on the phone. Sam was trying to make her interact with the two boys, telling her that she would have to at some point, Mikaela seemed to believe that Cat was well suited for this Evan boy, calling it 'fate' that they had met again after so long... Cat called it annoying...

Rotten stretched while laying next to Cat in bed, yawning one of this loud, obnoxious yawns. She was already awake, but Rotten's yawn would have definitely gotten her up anyway. Cat rolled over to her friend, who was sleeping on his back, his legs up in the air.

*swish swish swish*

Rotten's tail wagged as he received a belly rub from his loving owner. Cat sighed as she gave her friend a good scratching.

"I've managed to coop myself up all week, Rotten.. I can't imagine why Optimus or one of the guys haven't stopped by to see what I've been up to.. Not that I'm complaining," she frowned, "But I think it's time I got out for a bit... What do you think?"

Rotten woofed a small woof and continued to wag his tail thoughtfully as though to say 'Don't forget me!'

Cat smiled, "You too, huh? I guess I've kept both of us from seeing the light of day for a while..."

Cat lept out of bed, bending to stretch her back and legs and upward with her hands towards to ceiling to stretch her arm. After a quick shower and a change of fresh clothes, Cat decided to see what was cooking in the lounge. She grabbed the leash from a hook next to the front door (she usually let Rotten heel by her side instead of using the leash, but just in case one of the technicians saw her she'd have the leash on hand) and whistled for Rotten.

"Come on, boy!" Cat called for her companion.

Rotten flew out of the bedroom in the flash! He knew what was coming.. Walkies! Cat's eyes nearly bugged when she saw the creature zoom from the hallway. She quickly opened the human-sized door as the dog flew past her and out into the hallways of the Dam. He then, stopped, and bounced happily, woofing and playfully dodging Cat as if to tell her 'I'm ready!' .

"All right, all right, calm down! I know it's been a few days but geez!" Cat pointed to her side, Rotten quickly obeying the order given and heeled within an inch of Cat's legs.

Evan was nearly to the lounge before he heard, "DAMNIT!" screeching from the large room.

He stopped and looked around the corner of the lounge from the hallway.. What was that about? Was there an enemy? Was someone being attacked?

"Evan!" Josh yelled from the top of the over-sized couch, "Good to see ya here finally!"

Evan jumped at the sound of Josh's voice but calmed himself quickly when he saw his friend waving, the mechs around his friend laughing and playing along.

"What's going on?" Evan asked cautiously.

"Just playing Code of Honor! I keep getting shot..." Josh turned back to the game as he watched his character re-spawn at the beginning, once again.

"He's been tryin' all week to beat this level!" The mech called 'Jazz' laughed.

"I STILL say you guys are doing something to the game!" Josh waved a finger, accusingly, at Jazz.

"And _I_ still say you just weren't cut out for war!" Sunny added playfully.

Evans stomach started to growl.. He could smell the delicious scent of scones, biscuits, hash and bacon. His mouth watered from the scent of the food and turned left into the lounge instead of watching his friend play games with the Autobots. The cafeteria was nearly empty, but the food was still out, in plenty, in their warming dishes. Coffee pot was full, and the Milk and Orange juice machines had not yet been covered. Evan scooped up a plate and slathered it with sausage and scrambled eggs, setting his plate down only to grab a mug of coffee and a juice glass.

He devoured that meal to its' entirety.

Every last crumb of toast and grease of the eggs were gobbled up. He ate as though he had when he'd first arrived a few days ago. Maybe that was because of the fact that he had eaten like a mouse the last day or so. He didn't care now. All importance was that he felt full now. It was nice to feel full, even if his mind was still on -

"Cat?" Sides asked quizzically.

Evan's head jerked around in a flash as he craned his neck to see around the corner of the cafeteria from where he was sitting.

"Where ya been, girl?" Jazz asked. Evan could hear shuffling of feet, mainly large mech feet.

"No where special," her voice... it was definitely her!

Evan scoot around the corner, carefully, glancing in the direction of the lounge.

"Hey, who's the mutt?" Josh joked as he walked towards Cat and her companion.

"He's my vicious, man-eating, rabid -" Josh bent down and was immediately greeted by slobbering licks to the face, "... traitor of a dog, Rotten..."

"Seems nice to me!" Josh laughed as he stood to get away from the dog kisses.

Evan watched a little as the Autobots interacted with Cat. She seemed so calm and trusting of them.. Why? She certainly doesn't trust _him_! And what'd he do to her anyway?

"Optimus said you'd requested off temporarily," Jazz stated mater-of-factly, "Figured you'd shut yourself up for o'while."

"Yeah," Cat scratched her head, "I needed some time off... My place was a mess, construction just finished, I just... Didn't feel like doing much of anything."

"A little Code of Honor, then?" Sunny hung one of the controllers in front of Cat, trying to entice their friend to play along with them.

"Nah," cat swatted away the controller, "I'll just watch for a while, if you don't mind.."

"Sure!" Josh grabbed the controller away from Sunny, the mech giving a slight huff, "I'll show ya how it's done!"

Cat rolled her eyes as she and Rotten sat on the ground near the couch, giving him optimal view of the fifty-five foot tall television. Evan continued to watch from afar before sitting back down at his place in the cafeteria. He stared down at his empty plates, where he had absolutely ravaged the meal, and thought quietly to himself.

"You died," Cat stated matter-of-factly.

"Just that one time!" Josh complained, "I'll get it!"

Rotten had laid down to Cat's side when something caught his nose. His head perked up as he smelled the air around him. Cat moved her eyes towards the dog for just a second before going back to watch the game at hand. Rotten, however, decided to investigate. He heaved his large body up from laying down and trotted off towards the cafeteria.

"You gonna get him?" Jazz asked.

"He knows to stay out of the kitchen. Just as long as he smells around he's fine.." Cat replied, waving it off as simple animal curiosity.

Evan was still thinking to himself. Wondering why he seemed to be targeted by Cat. If anything, she should like him better than Josh! At least she's known him longer than -

Something cold touched Evans' legs as he stood up in a flash and backed away from the table, "Whoa!"

The happy panting face of Rotten walked out from under the table as he stared back at the human.

"Scared me..." Evan put a hand to his chest as he calmed himself. Scared by a dog? NOW he was sure he needed to relax a little.

"Rotten!" Evan jumped.. Was it-

Cat stood at the entrance to the cafeteria, her brow narrowed down to a simple glare as she snapped her fingers at the overgrown pup, "Get over here! You know better!"

Rotten's nose pointed to the ground in the 'I'm sorry' stance as he quickly headed back to Cat, looking up at her apologetically. Evan couldn't help but stare at the girl.. Her hair was streaming down over her shoulders and just about more than halfway down her back. It was sleek and shiny, but still a little wet as though she had just hopped out of the shower. Her body had a perfect stance as she stood with her hands on her hips. The bangs on her face covered her milky white face as she stared down at Rotten with the glare. Cat turned her glare from the animal to Evan. Her blue eye was the color of the sky, while her yellow cat-eye stared him down with a clear amount of anger.

"Uh... Hi?" Evan said... or rather asked..

Prowl had finished making his rounds for the morning and decided to stop by and visit the two new additions to the Dam in the medical lab. It was getting close to lunch time, so Prowl assumed that he was catching them just before they made their way to the cafeteria. He marched through the medical bay doors and stopped just inside the bay. Looking around, Prowl could neither see them, nor read their energy signatures (which of course he well stored in his memory banks).

"What can I do for you, Prowl?" Doctor Peterson asked as he walked by, marking his notes on his charts.

"I have come to check on our two newest humans, Evan and Josh," Prowl stated, his visor barely looking down to the small human as he spoke.

"They've both been out all day," Peterson responded.

"Is that so? I would have thought that I could, at least, catch Evan. Doesn't he usually stay around the lab?" Prowl asked.

"Usually," Peterson put his charts down, "But I think he may have gotten a little cabin fever by staying for so long. I believe he went to find Josh."

"Cabin.. Fever?" Prowl raised an eye-ridge.

"It's not an actual disease," Peterson snorted with a bit of laughter, "It's used to describe a human who has been in the same place for too long and needs a refresher. Boredom, you know?"

"Ah," Prowl realized, "I can definitely understand that."

"You can?" Peterson asked, "Normally you're the type of mech who likes to get stuck in a daily routine."

"Routine is one thing. Having a day where there are no unfortunate deaths due to needless battle and ensuring that, daily, there are no misses to the signs of such things. However, even I need to get away from the Dam from time to time," Prowl turned and left the medical bay almost as quickly as he had arrived, leaving Peterson to think about his words.

Cat was staring straight at the person who she absolutely did not plan, nor want to see...

"Um... Hi?" the boy said nervously. Cat could tell that his body was stressing at the sight of her; her left eye telling her of his increasing stress levels, increase in perspiration. It was all a sign that he either feared, or highly embellished her presence.

"... I suppose our encountering was going to be imminent..." Cat's words were as cold as ice.

Jazz and the twins were listening from the couch, having tuned out Josh's sputterings as he continued to lose in the game. They were highly cautious of Cat interacting with Evan due to her feelings towards the entire situation of him being around. They were totally silent, ready to pounce if they were needed to referee the two.

"Uh.. Yeah..." Evan clearly felt the anguish that exuded from Cat's body, "Listen, I-"

"Come with me..." Cat ordered as she turned and walked towards the entrance of the lounge. She stopped as she'd realized Evan had not moved an inch towards following her, "Are you coming?"

Evan's mind popped into gear as he suddenly found his legs hurrying to catch up with her.

Jazz wasn't sure that the two of them being out of sight was a smart idea and asked, "Do you want us to-"

"No," Cat settled quickly as she continued to trek out of the lounge, Evan scrambling to catch up with her.

It was high noon, and the western desert was dry as ever. The ground cracking at, what seemed to have been, weeks of hot, dry weather. The red, rocky terrain made it nearly impossible for a human to walk without water rations or at least a suitable hat to keep one's head cool and shaded. The dusty winds picked up slightly as Cat led poor Evan into the rocky ridges of nowhere.

"So, uh.." Evan tried to break the ice with a little amount of small talk, "Are we on the Arizona side, or the Nevada side?"

"What?" Cat barely turned a look back to Evan as she strode around the rocky summit.

"Well," Evan said between deep breaths due to his climbing, "Isn't the Dam - in two states? I was pretty sure - it was parted, down the middle, on - which state it's in."

Cat barely glared at Evan from the side of her eye as she turned back forward to continue through the ridges.

"...Nevada..." She answered.

Evan suddenly decided that he'd had enough of this. Cat had been glaring at him, growling at him, and hardly spoke a word to him and he STILL, willfully, followed her without question into the open desert.

"I've had it!" Evan declared as he stopped mid-step and crossed his arms, "If you aren't going to tell me what this is about, I'll be glad to turn around and go back on my own!"

Cat stopped as well. Poor Rotten, who dutiful followed his master, was panting hard as well. He stopped and sat down on a sturdy piece of land as he watched Cat stand still in her tracks. She turned around slowly and looked around.

"... I suppose this will do..."

"Do?" Evan suddenly became worried, "Do for what?"

Cat walked up to Evan with a certain degree of pride in her walk. She came to him until they were mere inches apart.

"I need to set a few boundaries for you.." Cat demanded.

"Boundaries? We haven't talked or seen each other all week!" Evan declared, "How could the boundaries be any safer than that?"

"You need to understand a few things about me and the Autobots. I'm sure you've questioned how they came to be here, and how we've met," Cat stated.

"I'm more concerned about you," Evan said softly.

"What _about_ me?" Cat asked.

"How long were you... you know... How long were you held here after we first met?" Evan asked solemnly.

Cat stepped back a few paces and sat down on a nearby boulder, "...Fourteen more years of torture in that place..." She had kept her eyes to the ground, "I would have thought your parents had kept you informed about me.."

"No," he stated, "Every time I would ask, even years later, they would deny that I had ever met you, and that it was a dream I'd had as a child."

"They did?" Cat was shocked.

Evan nodded.

"And you knew differently, even though they had explained otherwise?" She asked.

"Well," Evan admitted, "After some time I had thought it was all a dream after all I mean, "he shrugged, "Why would children be kept as little soldiers, hidden from the world? I had every reason to believe that it was really a dream.."

"And what changed that reason?" Cat asked, looking to him from across the ridge.

"Well.." Evan stammered a bit, "Y-you did.."

"Really?" Cat's eyes gave Evan a strange, unbelieving glance.

"Well and one other thing..." Evan slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"What?" Cat asked coldly. She wasn't really interested but now that they were on the subject..

Evan reached up to one shoulder and pulled the layer of fake skin away from his prosthesis, "This was really what had me believing otherwise."

Cat was quick to the punch, "Why won't you tell, at least Ratchet, why and how you've obtained those?"

"Did you try looking in the medical section of the Dam?" Evan asked as he rolled the skin back up his shoulder region, "Because I was HERE when I got these.."

Cat wasn't truly surprised, maybe a little shocked... "I need to ask then..."

"What's that?" Evan wasn't sure what he would be facing.

"Were your parents intending on using you as one of us?" Cat just out-rightly asked.

"No, no," Evan waved the question off, "Nothing like that..."

"Then why do you have those?... And why have you refused to tell us?" Cat seethed a little.

"Because _you_ haven't asked me.." Evan responded, "I already knew that you were briefed on everything that went on here.. Hell, you _were_ what went on here! You and your... wait... didn't you have a sister?" Evan asked.

Cat turned her eyes back to the open desert as she began to answer his question, "I had six brothers and sisters... They were all a part of the government's plan to use humans as tightly wound, highly lethal soldiers... Two of them I had never met... three I had barely ever seen... One that I had attached myself to fully..."

"Where are they now?" Evan asked. It wasn't really his business, but he thought he might ask anyway.

"...They're all dead..." Cat said in a low tone of voice.

They were suddenly quiet. Evan wasn't sure what to make of her silence, but he was beginning to feel his blood boil. Not for her cold-hearted way of answering him, but for the fact that she had barely survived such a brutal lifestyle.. It was unbearable to think about, even for him.. He could have only imagined what was going through her mind..

"The thing is," Cat spoke suddenly, "I don't go into it anymore... I have tried and tried to run away from my past..."

Evan listened carefully and thoughtfully.

"I have managed to, so far, stir it up at every turn... Everywhere I go, anything I do... Something happens to me to remind me of what I am... and what I was..." Cat spoke a little softer, "And you," she glared back at him once again, "Have only come to remind me... to ask me... You want to know so badly?" She stood herself up onto the boulder and loomed over him as she spoke loudly, "I DIED the day your parents did!"

"What?" Evan was taken aback.

"Surely you knew that they worked here, specifically?" Cat asked.

"...No... I thought they worked somewhere outside of the city but.. I never knew it was here..." Evan's head looked to the base of the Dam as he allowed himself a moment to gaze at... Was this his parents' tomb?"

"Back in July of last year, I had broken out of my captors' grip..." Cat began, "With the aid of one of the scientists, I made it all the way from here to Los Angeles.. She dropped me off with a few thousand dollars in my pocket and made me promise not to harm a human unless I was in clear and present danger of being harmed by them.."

Evan looked to Cat with a stone, serious face. He, suddenly, wanted to know more... Wanted to know how all of this led to the death of his parents and why the government paid him off so dearly afterwards..

"A day later I met Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots. Bumblebee, whom you'll meet another time, was in a struggled between protecting Sam and the reigns that the agents had him in... So I used Alchemy to save them... I fell unconscious and was taken, by the Autobots, to a safe place for the night.. The rest is, basically, history however it leads up to the day we went to retrieve the Allspark.." She told the story.

"Allspark?" Evan asked.

Cat gave a curt nod, "Yes.. The Allspark is an amazing source of power. The one who holds and contains it could control the universe.. The Autobots are a specific race of aliens known as Cybertronians. They are, and have been, in a war for millions of years with another part of that race, known as the Decepticons... They have warred against the Autobots for the soul purpose of owning, and controlling the Allspark... Which," she pointed to the Dam, "had landed here on Earth. This Dam was commissioned to be built by President Hoover, after the Allspark landed. They could see it as a high source of energy, so they built this Dam around the Allspark and made the concrete thick enough that it could not be sensed by outer space sources."

"How does all of this -" Evan started before Cat brought her hand up to halt him.

"All in good time..." she advised.

"By the time we had reached the Dam, I had found my sister who had, single handedly, murdered one of the higher ranking officers of the Decepticons..." Cat continued.

"Whoa..." Evan thought, "You mean... You have the capability to take down one of _those_ guys?"

Cat went back to her fervent glare, "I didn't say that..."

"Oh.. I'm sorry I-"

"By the time we had reached the Dam, my sister along with us, I was dying..."

"How?" Evan asked.

"My immune system could no longer hold up to the dangers of the outside world.. You see I was not meant to leave the confines of the laboratory, which meant when I reached the outside world, I wouldn't have much time to live..."

"... How did you- "

"Don't get too far ahead of me, this is where you'll need to know the most..." Cat, once again, halted Evan from speaking. He only nodded in reply.

"We had a plan to get in, steal the Allspark, and get out... But the plan nearly failed... The Decepticons were watching us and decided to try and come take the Allspark right out from underneath us by force. Bumblebee and Ratchet were captured by the Dam's crew, and my sister had allowed the Decepticons to unfreeze their leader, who had also been held here. His name is Megatron.."

Evan nodded to encourage her to continue.

"The Autobots managed to elude the Decepticons, Bumblebee and Ratchet were released, and the Allspark was in the hands of Sam and Mikaela as Bumblebee took them away from here at high speeds. The Autobots, at that time, consisted of Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Jazz and Ironhide. It was them against a few of the Decepticons. But before the Decepticons left here, they made waste of this place, killing the scientist who had saved me before... As well as your parents..." Cat teared up a little so she looked away to the Dam, avoiding the gaze of Evan.

"Mission City... You mean that terrorist attempt on the city was -"

"No terrorist attempt at all... The Decepticons battled with the Autobots, afterwards the government covered the whole thing up, paid everyone off, and paid a few people just to keep their mouths shut.."

"I can't believe it..." Evan sat down on the dusty trail, Rotten crawling over to him to beg for a scratch behind the ears.. "Why didn't they just tell me? I mean... I was brought here for my procedure, but I was told that this was just the where the team of doctors were at..."

"This was the whole shabang.." Cat ended her story, "Your parents didn't want you to know what they did because they were probably afraid you would be taken if the word got out. The rules were very strenuous on the workers, but for a reason."

Evan nodded. His parents had worked hard to ensure he had a good living, and to ensure that he would always be safe... No wonder they fought so hard against him when it came to the subject of the soldiers they were creating here.

"Now," Cat began, "I've told you _our_ story... You tell me yours..."

Ooooo It's a shame I have to end it here huh? For the next chappie! Evan tells his story to Cat, the Autobots finally learn the secret to this boys' past, and... gulp... Cat has new roommates? Next time my minions, next time!


End file.
